For the last few weeks, as well as learning lines, devising scenes and working with Hannah and George on the piece as a whole I have been working on the multimedia aspect of our performance; the images of hell which appear between most of the scenes. One of the key themes explored in the play is the nature of humanity and these images will be key in illustrating this so that the audience do not leave thinking that the piece is only about 7/7. Therefore, we have chosen to use images of man-made hell on earth from the 20th and 21st century such as World War I, World War II, the Rwanda Genocide, Chechen War, images of Zimbabwe, Vietnam and so on.
However, I am finding this aspect of my work very difficult. I am quite an empathetic person and already relatively cynical about human nature for a person of my age. However, this element of the project is becoming increasingly difficult due to the images we are putting in front of the audience. We do not want to be shocking, but provocative with these images. I am getting upset by some of the images and footage I am finding and unsure whether this feeling means those items should be used or left. It is quite a predicament. Another theme explored in the play, and its reason for being called Pornography is the way we can objectify people. Are we objectifying the people in the images we present and passing this onto our audience? Is that the point? At the moment I know that these images will provoke something in the audience, and that is very much needed. I just don't know if a video of an Afghan man being beaten up is a step in the 'right' direction or a step to far. Example video to be uploaded soon.
A rather more pensive and saddened Ellie.
x
Thursday 25 March 2010
Monday 22 March 2010
"The polish is the key stage, he tells me. The polish and the R&D are the key stages of any report."
The heading above is a line from my monologue as Seven (that I will be talking about in a nother blog) which i thought was incredibly apt for the stage of production we are at; the polishing stages, fixing the last few annoying habits, ensuring every movement and gesture have conviction and meaning and keeping the material fresh.
Things have been going well! Some scenes; Tessa's Two and James and Catherine's Three are a little further so we are using different exercises to keep those scenes fresh to ensure they do not become stale such as doing it in funny accents, doing it at double time and so on. The scene which is most difficult at the moment is the Bomber scene as it requires precision in the detail and takes more time as Alex's delivery needs to be up to scratch whilst also having all four bombers move in time. However, we are extremely happy with the way the work is proceeding! All scenes are now 'blocked', or at least we have an idea where we may be moving in the space. This is all subject to change once we get to use our actual set.
This is also the stage of transitions between scenes. For the duologues, we had already organised the transitions between their sections of passage of time but not between each actual scene. We had a very productive morning on Sunday all together working on the transitions to make them smooth. From the get go, we have always envisioned that the cast will remain on stage the whole time. For one thing we do not want the illusion of characters being hidden behind curtains. Secondly, we have always wanted the back of the triangle to represent the microcosm of society in London during the week the play is set in. One of our main inspirations is of course; the tube.
We are hoping that a few people will have props such as newspapers and ipods to aid the audience's understanding of this. The idea has also developed to the idea of waiting for the train until after the bombers scene when we all 'get on.' At the moment these are fluid until we are able to work with our actual set but it is very exciting to finally see how we will all be arranged throughout the performance and how it changes the space. The most difficult aspect of these transitions is the timing. Just like in the bombers scene, the timing will be key with regards to the movement. Fingers Crossed!
Things have been going well! Some scenes; Tessa's Two and James and Catherine's Three are a little further so we are using different exercises to keep those scenes fresh to ensure they do not become stale such as doing it in funny accents, doing it at double time and so on. The scene which is most difficult at the moment is the Bomber scene as it requires precision in the detail and takes more time as Alex's delivery needs to be up to scratch whilst also having all four bombers move in time. However, we are extremely happy with the way the work is proceeding! All scenes are now 'blocked', or at least we have an idea where we may be moving in the space. This is all subject to change once we get to use our actual set.
This is also the stage of transitions between scenes. For the duologues, we had already organised the transitions between their sections of passage of time but not between each actual scene. We had a very productive morning on Sunday all together working on the transitions to make them smooth. From the get go, we have always envisioned that the cast will remain on stage the whole time. For one thing we do not want the illusion of characters being hidden behind curtains. Secondly, we have always wanted the back of the triangle to represent the microcosm of society in London during the week the play is set in. One of our main inspirations is of course; the tube.
We are hoping that a few people will have props such as newspapers and ipods to aid the audience's understanding of this. The idea has also developed to the idea of waiting for the train until after the bombers scene when we all 'get on.' At the moment these are fluid until we are able to work with our actual set but it is very exciting to finally see how we will all be arranged throughout the performance and how it changes the space. The most difficult aspect of these transitions is the timing. Just like in the bombers scene, the timing will be key with regards to the movement. Fingers Crossed!
Wednesday 10 March 2010
Step by Step in How to Kiss Your Brother...
Today we had a fantastic rehearsal with Josh and Charlotte playing the Brother and Sister in scene 5. When we first began to look deeper into the text, we had originally envisaged that this scene would be stylised and physical theatre-esque, perhaps employing some contemporary dance techniques, particularly for beat 7, which is where they first kiss and sleep with each other in the passage of time that the audience do not see at the end of this beat. However, unluckily for me as CPP this scene has become more and more naturalistic. This means we have three scenes which are very naturalistic, two scenes which are more towards naturalism but have stylistic elements and two which are very stylistic/physical theatre.
We had not yet decided if the scene could include some more stylised elements as many of the other scenes do and therefore I ran a contact improvisation exercise with the couple, to get them used to touching each other and not become too aware of themselves, letting go of their inhibitions with each other. This worked well. Charlotte has very little physical theatre experience and found the weight bearing required at times quite difficult. Hannah was still not convinced that any physical theatre was going to fit and although I tried I was inclined to agree that even if we tried to add stylistic elements into previous beats that it may still jar. It is going to be easier for the audience to understand if each monologue/duologue is slightly different to each other than if the elements of a singular scene do not seem to connect.
Back to the kissing. I have never been particularly flustered when asked to kiss a fellow performer. I am quite a tactile person myself. However, for some performers it can be a real struggle. Josh and Charlotte were both relatively relaxed about the actual action of kissing, but found it difficult to find the sexual element of it. Even though contact improvisation exercise I led with them has not been used to create stylised or heightened physical movement, it has informed the contact between the performers, particularly using the hands as a contact point. This seemed to improve the scene immensely.
Hannah also guided them on the actual delivery of the lines where needed and suggested that Charlotte sit on Josh's lap, keeping eye contact and that they had to stroke each other/play with hair etc and say the whole beat as if they are having a lovey dovey conversation. This made them more comfortable with contact and the lines that they were saying and especially began the work in the intensity between them.I had origonally said to them that I only wanted to do the kiss a maximum of two times so that they did not feel awkward. However, I think all in all they kissed about 10 times. This was mainly due to improvements being made to the two kisses and the performers proximity and delivery.
They were still somewhat awkward but it was an awkwardness that suited the characters; they are committing incest after all. Ursula, our dramaturg commented that it felt very personal and quite uncomfortable as an audience member within the contexts of their relationship. She also described the feeling like looking through a keyhole which is a lovely
image.
Although it is not as 'CPP' as we had first considered it to be, these things happen. You can force elements upon a piece if they just don't fit, and this is sadly just the case here.
Ellie
We had not yet decided if the scene could include some more stylised elements as many of the other scenes do and therefore I ran a contact improvisation exercise with the couple, to get them used to touching each other and not become too aware of themselves, letting go of their inhibitions with each other. This worked well. Charlotte has very little physical theatre experience and found the weight bearing required at times quite difficult. Hannah was still not convinced that any physical theatre was going to fit and although I tried I was inclined to agree that even if we tried to add stylistic elements into previous beats that it may still jar. It is going to be easier for the audience to understand if each monologue/duologue is slightly different to each other than if the elements of a singular scene do not seem to connect.
Back to the kissing. I have never been particularly flustered when asked to kiss a fellow performer. I am quite a tactile person myself. However, for some performers it can be a real struggle. Josh and Charlotte were both relatively relaxed about the actual action of kissing, but found it difficult to find the sexual element of it. Even though contact improvisation exercise I led with them has not been used to create stylised or heightened physical movement, it has informed the contact between the performers, particularly using the hands as a contact point. This seemed to improve the scene immensely.
Hannah also guided them on the actual delivery of the lines where needed and suggested that Charlotte sit on Josh's lap, keeping eye contact and that they had to stroke each other/play with hair etc and say the whole beat as if they are having a lovey dovey conversation. This made them more comfortable with contact and the lines that they were saying and especially began the work in the intensity between them.I had origonally said to them that I only wanted to do the kiss a maximum of two times so that they did not feel awkward. However, I think all in all they kissed about 10 times. This was mainly due to improvements being made to the two kisses and the performers proximity and delivery.
They were still somewhat awkward but it was an awkwardness that suited the characters; they are committing incest after all. Ursula, our dramaturg commented that it felt very personal and quite uncomfortable as an audience member within the contexts of their relationship. She also described the feeling like looking through a keyhole which is a lovely
image.Although it is not as 'CPP' as we had first considered it to be, these things happen. You can force elements upon a piece if they just don't fit, and this is sadly just the case here.
Ellie
Dealing With Terrorists Part 2
On the 8th of March we had another rehearsal with the boys for scene 4. Our previous rehearsal had been productive, scratching two beats out but not as enjoyable as others as there was a need for a bit more talking as we tried to create some movement from the text for one of the linking sections between movement we had already put to text. We immediately knew that this was not a way that George and I like to work or how the boys respond best.
Everybody was feeling somewhat creatively stunted. We work together with the boys to explore their movement and they have input in how to make those movements better. However, in the previous rehearsal it was perhaps a case of 'too many cooks' as we were unsure as to what was the best course of action and needed to try a number of things out. Furthermore, Alex, who is playing the Bomber of Stephen's text, (while the others are playing the three other London Bombers but remain voiceless) has got a huge task on his hands and at times, he understandably struggles. He has a very difficult script to learn and very difficult movement to put it together with and get both right.
For the previous rehearsals we have been using an exercise that George did with the bombers a couple of weeks ago, watching the videos together and using those movements as inspiration to develop on in our rehearsals, finding text where they may work. However, as there are more sections, Alex is becoming more flustered with his text and in turn the movement stop/starts frequently which can result in the boys as a whole finding the end of the rehearsal difficult. Therefore, on the 8th, we decided to split his rehearsal into a text based individual rehearsal and then have him join the boys and do two hours physical work as a quartet and then put words and movement together. It was clear that all involved were happier with this arrangement and this is how we hope to go on in future rehearsals.
I ran two movement exercises with the boys to try to create some more footage for us to work with as starting points for development so that the movement remains organically created, something we had worried was not happening in the previous rehearsal we had struggled in. At first I ran LeCoq's colours exercise. Having previously had a LeCoq workshop with me as a full ensemble, it was interesting to see the movements which they had previously done and new movements if they continued to explore some colours. We then ran a follow the leader exercise. This was both to find new movement and to aid their concentration and ability to move together in sync for the work we were to do with the actual scene later in the rehearsal. At first, I let them explore their movement together, taking whatever stimulus from the ideas of the scene they wanted. However, this was not incredibly successful in terms of creating movement but definitely ensured they were concentrating and moving together.
I then gave them four themes to explore as they moved together 'terrorism, hatred, destruction and fire.' They had previously explored ideas of destruction and fire with me during the LeCoq Elements exercise I ran in my movement workshop with the full cast. It was more successful giving them themes to work with and I would have liked to continue the exercise longer but we needed to continue working. I hope to revisit this at the start of next rehearsal. The following work with the text seemed to be back to the way it had been, experimenting with different movements for the scene and developing them together. Paul Allain, the supervisor of the directors and a man of many talents, one of which is physical theatre (having worked with numerous famous people I have spent these three years learning about and admiring!) attended the last two hours of the rehearsal and seemed pleased with our progress. Videos will be up shortly if i can work out how to shorten them so they upload quicker! (not brilliant quality, still rather sloppy as only at scratching stages and cant hear the sound very well but you get the gist!)
One thing that we are beginning to realise working on this text is the different ways we are having to approach each scene and the performers in them. Different performers respond to different ways of being directed and different ways of finding movement for their characters. It makes it more interesting for us being able to employ our different skills depending on the performers we are working with.
Thats all folks!
Ellie
Everybody was feeling somewhat creatively stunted. We work together with the boys to explore their movement and they have input in how to make those movements better. However, in the previous rehearsal it was perhaps a case of 'too many cooks' as we were unsure as to what was the best course of action and needed to try a number of things out. Furthermore, Alex, who is playing the Bomber of Stephen's text, (while the others are playing the three other London Bombers but remain voiceless) has got a huge task on his hands and at times, he understandably struggles. He has a very difficult script to learn and very difficult movement to put it together with and get both right.
For the previous rehearsals we have been using an exercise that George did with the bombers a couple of weeks ago, watching the videos together and using those movements as inspiration to develop on in our rehearsals, finding text where they may work. However, as there are more sections, Alex is becoming more flustered with his text and in turn the movement stop/starts frequently which can result in the boys as a whole finding the end of the rehearsal difficult. Therefore, on the 8th, we decided to split his rehearsal into a text based individual rehearsal and then have him join the boys and do two hours physical work as a quartet and then put words and movement together. It was clear that all involved were happier with this arrangement and this is how we hope to go on in future rehearsals.
I ran two movement exercises with the boys to try to create some more footage for us to work with as starting points for development so that the movement remains organically created, something we had worried was not happening in the previous rehearsal we had struggled in. At first I ran LeCoq's colours exercise. Having previously had a LeCoq workshop with me as a full ensemble, it was interesting to see the movements which they had previously done and new movements if they continued to explore some colours. We then ran a follow the leader exercise. This was both to find new movement and to aid their concentration and ability to move together in sync for the work we were to do with the actual scene later in the rehearsal. At first, I let them explore their movement together, taking whatever stimulus from the ideas of the scene they wanted. However, this was not incredibly successful in terms of creating movement but definitely ensured they were concentrating and moving together.
I then gave them four themes to explore as they moved together 'terrorism, hatred, destruction and fire.' They had previously explored ideas of destruction and fire with me during the LeCoq Elements exercise I ran in my movement workshop with the full cast. It was more successful giving them themes to work with and I would have liked to continue the exercise longer but we needed to continue working. I hope to revisit this at the start of next rehearsal. The following work with the text seemed to be back to the way it had been, experimenting with different movements for the scene and developing them together. Paul Allain, the supervisor of the directors and a man of many talents, one of which is physical theatre (having worked with numerous famous people I have spent these three years learning about and admiring!) attended the last two hours of the rehearsal and seemed pleased with our progress. Videos will be up shortly if i can work out how to shorten them so they upload quicker! (not brilliant quality, still rather sloppy as only at scratching stages and cant hear the sound very well but you get the gist!)
One thing that we are beginning to realise working on this text is the different ways we are having to approach each scene and the performers in them. Different performers respond to different ways of being directed and different ways of finding movement for their characters. It makes it more interesting for us being able to employ our different skills depending on the performers we are working with.
Thats all folks!
Ellie
Tuesday 9 March 2010
Leaving the Rehearsal Room
On the 5th of March (last Friday) I had a very interesting and enjoyable time with two of our cast members; Catherine and James who play the two characters in scene 3.
At the start of last week there were still teething problems with this scene. It is one of the more naturalistic scenes in our presentation and it was very difficult at first to find the right amount of energy. It was relatively boring and we were finding it difficult to make more exciting and the performers were finding it difficult to connect to the scene. Then on Thursday's rehearsal with Hannah, suddenly it was as if a light switched on and they both started to relax and became more comfortable with the scene. George had an idea earlier in the week to take them out of the rehearsal room and make them do the scene in a bar in town and involve real alcohol to see how it affected their performance and if it brought anything to light.
It worked brilliantly. We walked into town, which was nice in itself, chatting to them out of contexts of rehearsal, something we have no had much time to do with such a large cast. Once we arrived at the pub/bar The Millers Arms I showed them the table they would come to and then asked them to return outside and take a moment to think about the questions Hannah had asked them in their imagination exercises and to think about their body centres and the gestures of their characters. When they entered the pub I was already at the table with their wine ready and they entered as their characters.
Although I have tried to shy away from 'acting' techniques, improvising their meeting at the bar before going into beat 1 was beneficial so that they had already become comfortable being the characters in a public place. Whilst drinking the bottle of wine, (which was incidentally 14.5% and therefore got them quite nicely tipsy throughout the time in the pub), they spoke together in script and then used improvisation to explore the possible conversations that may have happened between the times the audience see them. They very smoothly slipped between their actual beats and the material they were improvising. Although this is technically fabricating upon what Stephen's has written and the characters do not actually exist, it aided James and Catherine in understanding the flow of the journey of the scene.
Furthermore, actually being able to use real 'props' helped the scene - Catherine's flirting became far more natural but also at a higher level when she had the wine glass. We had already considered the idea that in the performance space that they would leave wine glasses along the yellow line as time passes, and this exercise illustrates that this may work.
Having finished the bottle of wine at the end of beat three, we left the pub and walked home with James and Catherine remaining in character. In the script the characters walk home and we thought that if James and Catherine could almost have memories of landmarks and how it actually felt to walk home in the cold that it may potentially aid the scene. The walk was slightly too long and they began to have trouble finding conversation having spoken so much in the pub. This was not their fault, more that I live that little too far away from town.
Once we arrived at the next destination; the church at the bottom of The Terrace near Ye Olde Beverly they were able to begin beat 4. This moment was beautiful. The blocking that Hannah had already experimented with them was able to be illustrated here and informed what they did so naturally. At this point they had been in character for almost 40 minutes. The short walk back to my house meant that they found more to talk about once inside; my house was representing James' character's flat. Sadly we had run out of coffee so tea was made instead but they both used the mugs like they had been using wine glasses. Again, Hannah's blocking informed how they manipulated the space of my lounge and James' awkwardness worked well and Catherine's last line of beat 5 was delivered perfectly.
All in all it was an incredibly successful exercise and James and Catherine both felt that they responded to this method of working. I found it incredibly interesting, feeling like it was a perrformance just for me, the lone audience member of this very intimate meeting of two old aquaintances.
Although it is perhaps stepping into the boundaries of fabrication, even method acting to an extent, it was in fact about taking them out of the rehearsal room, making them feel more comfortable in their surroundings and realising elements of a journey similar to that in the scene.
I have even managed to find a CPP link which is similar to this exercise! When Little Bulb made the first incarnation of Crocosmia, they would often walk around in character, exploring the possibilities of the personas they were creating. The first line of the script is "I am going to keep this short and to the point, because it’s all been said before by far more eloquent people than me. But our words have no impact upon you, therefore I’m going to talk to you in a language that you understand. Our words are dead until we give them life with our blood." Although our work has a script to start of with, it is our performers who are developing the characters and making them fuller, devising the personas and exploring how to present themselves. It may sound prentious but it is the performers who are giving them life.
Fingers Crossed!
Short Video to follow very soon.
Ellie
At the start of last week there were still teething problems with this scene. It is one of the more naturalistic scenes in our presentation and it was very difficult at first to find the right amount of energy. It was relatively boring and we were finding it difficult to make more exciting and the performers were finding it difficult to connect to the scene. Then on Thursday's rehearsal with Hannah, suddenly it was as if a light switched on and they both started to relax and became more comfortable with the scene. George had an idea earlier in the week to take them out of the rehearsal room and make them do the scene in a bar in town and involve real alcohol to see how it affected their performance and if it brought anything to light.
It worked brilliantly. We walked into town, which was nice in itself, chatting to them out of contexts of rehearsal, something we have no had much time to do with such a large cast. Once we arrived at the pub/bar The Millers Arms I showed them the table they would come to and then asked them to return outside and take a moment to think about the questions Hannah had asked them in their imagination exercises and to think about their body centres and the gestures of their characters. When they entered the pub I was already at the table with their wine ready and they entered as their characters.
Although I have tried to shy away from 'acting' techniques, improvising their meeting at the bar before going into beat 1 was beneficial so that they had already become comfortable being the characters in a public place. Whilst drinking the bottle of wine, (which was incidentally 14.5% and therefore got them quite nicely tipsy throughout the time in the pub), they spoke together in script and then used improvisation to explore the possible conversations that may have happened between the times the audience see them. They very smoothly slipped between their actual beats and the material they were improvising. Although this is technically fabricating upon what Stephen's has written and the characters do not actually exist, it aided James and Catherine in understanding the flow of the journey of the scene.
Furthermore, actually being able to use real 'props' helped the scene - Catherine's flirting became far more natural but also at a higher level when she had the wine glass. We had already considered the idea that in the performance space that they would leave wine glasses along the yellow line as time passes, and this exercise illustrates that this may work.
Having finished the bottle of wine at the end of beat three, we left the pub and walked home with James and Catherine remaining in character. In the script the characters walk home and we thought that if James and Catherine could almost have memories of landmarks and how it actually felt to walk home in the cold that it may potentially aid the scene. The walk was slightly too long and they began to have trouble finding conversation having spoken so much in the pub. This was not their fault, more that I live that little too far away from town.
Once we arrived at the next destination; the church at the bottom of The Terrace near Ye Olde Beverly they were able to begin beat 4. This moment was beautiful. The blocking that Hannah had already experimented with them was able to be illustrated here and informed what they did so naturally. At this point they had been in character for almost 40 minutes. The short walk back to my house meant that they found more to talk about once inside; my house was representing James' character's flat. Sadly we had run out of coffee so tea was made instead but they both used the mugs like they had been using wine glasses. Again, Hannah's blocking informed how they manipulated the space of my lounge and James' awkwardness worked well and Catherine's last line of beat 5 was delivered perfectly.
All in all it was an incredibly successful exercise and James and Catherine both felt that they responded to this method of working. I found it incredibly interesting, feeling like it was a perrformance just for me, the lone audience member of this very intimate meeting of two old aquaintances.
Although it is perhaps stepping into the boundaries of fabrication, even method acting to an extent, it was in fact about taking them out of the rehearsal room, making them feel more comfortable in their surroundings and realising elements of a journey similar to that in the scene.
I have even managed to find a CPP link which is similar to this exercise! When Little Bulb made the first incarnation of Crocosmia, they would often walk around in character, exploring the possibilities of the personas they were creating. The first line of the script is "I am going to keep this short and to the point, because it’s all been said before by far more eloquent people than me. But our words have no impact upon you, therefore I’m going to talk to you in a language that you understand. Our words are dead until we give them life with our blood." Although our work has a script to start of with, it is our performers who are developing the characters and making them fuller, devising the personas and exploring how to present themselves. It may sound prentious but it is the performers who are giving them life.
Fingers Crossed!
Short Video to follow very soon.
Ellie
Swimming to Seven
A couple of weeks ago, we had a workshop and lecture from Richard Schechner (which is still awaiting blogging!) At the end of our workshop seminar he showed us some footage from Lian Amaris' Swimming to Spalding, which he directed. Amaris wrote and performed in the piece which is a one woman show. (Here are some clips of You Tube to demonstrate http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRikUxI9PlA) This piece has become incredibly inspirational for the way that I and the directors are approaching the character I am playing in Pornography; unnamed Seven.
One of the key aspects of this production is the detail in Lian's gesture; Schechner commented that they paid attention to each gesture she makes. We have decided to do the same for my character. Whereas Lian's gestures are heightened versions of her own gesticulation, as the piece was autobiographical to an extent and utilised concepts such as performing self. With regards to Seven, the gestures and movements that I am working on are heightened versions of the persona I am creating and are at times more conceptual physical movements than heightened gesture.
Hannah ran a workshop with the entire cast working with Laban's efforts, exploring them as ourselves and picking two we think most suit our everyday movement and then moving onto the characters and picking two which most suit them. Many of my movements are based in the Laban efforts that I have realised for Seven; wringing and gliding. Although I do not sit and wring and see what comes out, the efforts most certainly inform the movement. I often know when I have found the right gesture or movement because it accidentally works with the Laban efforts. It is also good to have as a point of reference if I become stuck on a certain segment of text.
Other movements and gestures are created from the text and what I have found out about the character during exercises by Hannah and George such as imagination exercises and the dramaturgical exercise with Ursula. At first I was very unsure of what the imagination exercise with Hannah would accomplish for my performance. It is very much an acting technique, something I have been trying to avoid. However, it is incredibly surprising how much the imagination exercise has actually informed my movement. Although Seven is not real, and should not be treated as such, exploring how she could move was incredibly interesting. One of the benefits of using this exercise, even if we are not utilising 'acting' in this particular scene, is that it prevents the performer intellectualising the character and over thinking. The movement becomes more organic and natural. The dramaturgical questions Ursula asks, and will ask during the process, ensures that each gesture has conviction and integrity for the scene and for the play as a whole.
This is not an easy process and we are very keen to create the movements organically rather than mimetically from the text. This is a problem that we have come across in rehearsals for the bomber scene, although less so. Explring potential movements takes a lot of timebut we will get there in the end! I am working by myself at times to create starting points for movement which Hannah and George will help me shape. Hopefully, in the next few rehearsals we will be exploring more movement away from the text and bringing it back in as we have with the bombers, but time is of the essence!
Keep you posted!
Videos to follow on Saturday!
Ellie
One of the key aspects of this production is the detail in Lian's gesture; Schechner commented that they paid attention to each gesture she makes. We have decided to do the same for my character. Whereas Lian's gestures are heightened versions of her own gesticulation, as the piece was autobiographical to an extent and utilised concepts such as performing self. With regards to Seven, the gestures and movements that I am working on are heightened versions of the persona I am creating and are at times more conceptual physical movements than heightened gesture.
Hannah ran a workshop with the entire cast working with Laban's efforts, exploring them as ourselves and picking two we think most suit our everyday movement and then moving onto the characters and picking two which most suit them. Many of my movements are based in the Laban efforts that I have realised for Seven; wringing and gliding. Although I do not sit and wring and see what comes out, the efforts most certainly inform the movement. I often know when I have found the right gesture or movement because it accidentally works with the Laban efforts. It is also good to have as a point of reference if I become stuck on a certain segment of text.
Other movements and gestures are created from the text and what I have found out about the character during exercises by Hannah and George such as imagination exercises and the dramaturgical exercise with Ursula. At first I was very unsure of what the imagination exercise with Hannah would accomplish for my performance. It is very much an acting technique, something I have been trying to avoid. However, it is incredibly surprising how much the imagination exercise has actually informed my movement. Although Seven is not real, and should not be treated as such, exploring how she could move was incredibly interesting. One of the benefits of using this exercise, even if we are not utilising 'acting' in this particular scene, is that it prevents the performer intellectualising the character and over thinking. The movement becomes more organic and natural. The dramaturgical questions Ursula asks, and will ask during the process, ensures that each gesture has conviction and integrity for the scene and for the play as a whole.
This is not an easy process and we are very keen to create the movements organically rather than mimetically from the text. This is a problem that we have come across in rehearsals for the bomber scene, although less so. Explring potential movements takes a lot of timebut we will get there in the end! I am working by myself at times to create starting points for movement which Hannah and George will help me shape. Hopefully, in the next few rehearsals we will be exploring more movement away from the text and bringing it back in as we have with the bombers, but time is of the essence!
Keep you posted!
Videos to follow on Saturday!
Ellie
Sunday 7 March 2010
Potential Arrival in the audience?
This is a relatively short posting but today we received an email back from Simon Stephens who we are hoping to ask a few questions about the play, to aid our understanding in terms of our interpretation. Hannah also asked in the email if he would like to come to our performance...HE SAID HE WOULD LIKE TO IF HIS SCHEDULE ALLOWS. this is mental! suddenly my arguments concerning the writer in process are far more appropriate than i had first thought.
We were speaking to our cast about this on Saturday, me being one of them, and we all came to the conclusion it is unlikely he would come because he is surely busy busy busy and we would be incredibly nervous if this was to happen...and now it might. What happens if he does not like what we have done with his text? Do we care what he thinks?
More news on the communication with Simon Stephens to come soon!
Ellie
p.s If Sarah our supervisor hasn't popped her little baby out by then and if she can possibly hack sitting in an audience being so heavily pregnant, there may potentially be a tiny arrival! Although it is very unlikely, my money is on Shanty Fiasco's performance...hows that for visceral experience in theatre!
We were speaking to our cast about this on Saturday, me being one of them, and we all came to the conclusion it is unlikely he would come because he is surely busy busy busy and we would be incredibly nervous if this was to happen...and now it might. What happens if he does not like what we have done with his text? Do we care what he thinks?
More news on the communication with Simon Stephens to come soon!
Ellie
p.s If Sarah our supervisor hasn't popped her little baby out by then and if she can possibly hack sitting in an audience being so heavily pregnant, there may potentially be a tiny arrival! Although it is very unlikely, my money is on Shanty Fiasco's performance...hows that for visceral experience in theatre!
The Balancing Act
When it comes to contemporary performance, just how easy is it to ensure a coherent piece is created when so many people are relying on the performance for their marking schemes?
In our production I am doing contemporary performance practice (CPP) Hannah and Georgina are directors, Ursula is a dramaurg and Sue and Ade are designers. Each of us have to ensure that our input and mark is made on the piece in order to hopefully receive similar, if not the same marks for the process and piece, as this is our final piece of work for our entire degree. However, how similar is this in the 'real world,' how do companies working today ensure that everybodys voice is heard or is there a hierarchy? For instance, in Forced Entertainment each company member has a tremendous input into the piece of work, but in the end it is Tim Etchells who decides what is put in front of the audience. How collaborative can collaborative work be?
At the moment I am thoroughly enjoying the process and working with a text such as Pornography, but I do at times find it difficult to ensure my mark on the text is being made. Does the process of collaboration become more difficult when a text is involved? As a 'CPP-er' i would assume that I should be ripping apart the text and reforming it or using it as a starting point but eventually ending up at what would be quite a different end product. However, is that what it means to create contemporary performance? Can contemporary performance only be devised? We describe our approach to the text as devising how each scene is being presented, does this count as devising?
Furthermore, there are so many discussions regarding the power of the writer. Writers are not necessarily viewed in the same way that they once were, the primacy of writers has been challenged. Yet sometimes, especially with a text such as Pornography considering its contexts, it is difficult to even think about playing with the text too much. Would the piece send the intended messages if we were to create something from the text? Should we serve the writer or care about their intended messages? Is our job to do what many directors do when they take a text and focus on those elements of the text we would like the audience to pick up on? Or do we let the text speak for itself?
I for one have always been on the fence when it comes to authenticity and puritanism of text. I have to admit that I actually like pieces I have seen which have kept as faithful to the text as they see that they can and others which have created entirely new pieces of work. Although a text of a production may stand the test of time, each time it is performed it will be different. Therefore, can a text ever be performed faithfully or in keeping with the writers intentions? This is the nature of performance as a live act. Personally, I have always liked the idea that a pre-existing text or script is part of the process, a continuous act of creation through the performance of it and in turn the reception of it by the audience. That I am just coming into the process part of the way through and becoming part of the end product.
Pornography is a relatively open text, allowing for any interpretation and presentation. In fact, Sephens wrote it in mind that it could be played with. Among other reasons, one of the key reasons for the play first being performed in Germany was because he knew it would become an entirely different entity as a european performance, Nevertheless, in terms of our production, some of the scenes really do lend themselves to a more naturalistic presentation than others. Is that when we are getting into the borders of contemporary theatre rather than contemporary performance? Is contemporary theatre a form of contemporary performance? I have to admit i do become somewhat frustrated at times when some of the scenes I visualised as quite open in terms of presentation are slowly become more naturalistic than any of us had first intended. I also do not know how, in the short amount of time that we have had for this process, anything could be done differently.
Sometimes I have ideas which would be more along a contemporary performance route but they would jar with the elements we have already created. At other times my ideas are taken on and developed. Is this the case because I am working with two directors, both with distinct voices in how they want the piece to be presented vocally, aesthetically and artistically? A sad thought is that perhaps my ideas are not strong enough, something that has begun to affect me when I am working due to the knock back the process was last term. However, I feel that all three of us are taking elements of each other's roles, all putting in the same effort, taking each other's marking criteria into account to attempt to make sure that we are covering our backs but most of all to create our vision for the text. But if i have to fulfil certain criterion, how do I know if I am even accomplishing anything?
I have learnt much from this process already, especially being in the performance as well as creating it (but that's for another blog!) I suppose my worries are not that we will put on a bad performance because I know that we wont and I know this piece is already better than anything I have done this year. My worries lie in how much contribution I am making to the piece as a contemporary performance practice person and although less important, inevitably the marks I will receive at the end of it. I do not mind that some of the scenes are naturalistic, or that others are more stylised. I have also enjoyed experimenting with how acting techniques and physical techniques can actually inform each other. Even using the word acting in this blog makes me feel like i should be shot by my fellow CPP-ers! It has been an extremely different process to that of my last two pieces and to that of anything I have done before.
These are just some of the the questions that i constantly ask myself throughout this process. Some of them may be answered, some are more rhetorical. I want to put a piece in front of an audience that will make them think and make them feel, does it matter how I go about doing that just because my specialism last term was CPP? There are times in this process when i feel more like a director than a CPP-er and there are times when I am in my element. There are other times I lack confidence in any skill whatsoever.
Although our specialisms label us CPP, Directing, Dramaturgy and Design, we are supposed to be a company. Yes, we may have certain roles that we are each capable of fulfilling but we are also able to cross specialise. Is that not the point? This term I am collaborating. Collaboration, to me, means taking the skills base that you have and putting it together to create a performance which is balanced and which has integrity. Hopefully, the end product will illustrate that this process so far and hopefully in the last two weeks has been a well balanced act and that we have each put something into the process.
I guess we shall see.
Ellie
In our production I am doing contemporary performance practice (CPP) Hannah and Georgina are directors, Ursula is a dramaurg and Sue and Ade are designers. Each of us have to ensure that our input and mark is made on the piece in order to hopefully receive similar, if not the same marks for the process and piece, as this is our final piece of work for our entire degree. However, how similar is this in the 'real world,' how do companies working today ensure that everybodys voice is heard or is there a hierarchy? For instance, in Forced Entertainment each company member has a tremendous input into the piece of work, but in the end it is Tim Etchells who decides what is put in front of the audience. How collaborative can collaborative work be?
At the moment I am thoroughly enjoying the process and working with a text such as Pornography, but I do at times find it difficult to ensure my mark on the text is being made. Does the process of collaboration become more difficult when a text is involved? As a 'CPP-er' i would assume that I should be ripping apart the text and reforming it or using it as a starting point but eventually ending up at what would be quite a different end product. However, is that what it means to create contemporary performance? Can contemporary performance only be devised? We describe our approach to the text as devising how each scene is being presented, does this count as devising?
Furthermore, there are so many discussions regarding the power of the writer. Writers are not necessarily viewed in the same way that they once were, the primacy of writers has been challenged. Yet sometimes, especially with a text such as Pornography considering its contexts, it is difficult to even think about playing with the text too much. Would the piece send the intended messages if we were to create something from the text? Should we serve the writer or care about their intended messages? Is our job to do what many directors do when they take a text and focus on those elements of the text we would like the audience to pick up on? Or do we let the text speak for itself?
I for one have always been on the fence when it comes to authenticity and puritanism of text. I have to admit that I actually like pieces I have seen which have kept as faithful to the text as they see that they can and others which have created entirely new pieces of work. Although a text of a production may stand the test of time, each time it is performed it will be different. Therefore, can a text ever be performed faithfully or in keeping with the writers intentions? This is the nature of performance as a live act. Personally, I have always liked the idea that a pre-existing text or script is part of the process, a continuous act of creation through the performance of it and in turn the reception of it by the audience. That I am just coming into the process part of the way through and becoming part of the end product.
Pornography is a relatively open text, allowing for any interpretation and presentation. In fact, Sephens wrote it in mind that it could be played with. Among other reasons, one of the key reasons for the play first being performed in Germany was because he knew it would become an entirely different entity as a european performance, Nevertheless, in terms of our production, some of the scenes really do lend themselves to a more naturalistic presentation than others. Is that when we are getting into the borders of contemporary theatre rather than contemporary performance? Is contemporary theatre a form of contemporary performance? I have to admit i do become somewhat frustrated at times when some of the scenes I visualised as quite open in terms of presentation are slowly become more naturalistic than any of us had first intended. I also do not know how, in the short amount of time that we have had for this process, anything could be done differently.
Sometimes I have ideas which would be more along a contemporary performance route but they would jar with the elements we have already created. At other times my ideas are taken on and developed. Is this the case because I am working with two directors, both with distinct voices in how they want the piece to be presented vocally, aesthetically and artistically? A sad thought is that perhaps my ideas are not strong enough, something that has begun to affect me when I am working due to the knock back the process was last term. However, I feel that all three of us are taking elements of each other's roles, all putting in the same effort, taking each other's marking criteria into account to attempt to make sure that we are covering our backs but most of all to create our vision for the text. But if i have to fulfil certain criterion, how do I know if I am even accomplishing anything?
I have learnt much from this process already, especially being in the performance as well as creating it (but that's for another blog!) I suppose my worries are not that we will put on a bad performance because I know that we wont and I know this piece is already better than anything I have done this year. My worries lie in how much contribution I am making to the piece as a contemporary performance practice person and although less important, inevitably the marks I will receive at the end of it. I do not mind that some of the scenes are naturalistic, or that others are more stylised. I have also enjoyed experimenting with how acting techniques and physical techniques can actually inform each other. Even using the word acting in this blog makes me feel like i should be shot by my fellow CPP-ers! It has been an extremely different process to that of my last two pieces and to that of anything I have done before.
These are just some of the the questions that i constantly ask myself throughout this process. Some of them may be answered, some are more rhetorical. I want to put a piece in front of an audience that will make them think and make them feel, does it matter how I go about doing that just because my specialism last term was CPP? There are times in this process when i feel more like a director than a CPP-er and there are times when I am in my element. There are other times I lack confidence in any skill whatsoever.
Although our specialisms label us CPP, Directing, Dramaturgy and Design, we are supposed to be a company. Yes, we may have certain roles that we are each capable of fulfilling but we are also able to cross specialise. Is that not the point? This term I am collaborating. Collaboration, to me, means taking the skills base that you have and putting it together to create a performance which is balanced and which has integrity. Hopefully, the end product will illustrate that this process so far and hopefully in the last two weeks has been a well balanced act and that we have each put something into the process.
I guess we shall see.
Ellie
Tuesday 2 March 2010
Dealing with Terrorists
Well it has been a turbulant few weeks and so much is going on. We are currently int hose awkward middle stages where everything is going but your not quite sure where yet. We have come up with a concept (well between two at the moment.)
We are looking to potentially change the order of the scenes presented in the play, and Stephens actually wrote the play with order changes in mind. One of the most clever elements of Stephens' writing is his attention to detail, nearly every scene has something that connects to another - 'Are you laughing or crying,' pink Floyd between the bomber (four) and the brother (five), Jamaican blue mountain coffee between my character Seven and the lecturer in scene three, cigarettes between the sister (five) and Jason (six) and so on. Therefore, we have decided that some of the stylised gestures of different characters filter into to other scenes somehow.
This process has already begun and is going well. Hopefully, it will become clear to the audience once the scenes are scratched. We are hoping to have each scene scratched by the end of next week so we can really start to get down to the knitty gritty. The devising sides of some of the scenes is going well and cast members are starting to have enough confidence to suggest things which is brilliant considering we want to be an ensemble not just telling them what to do how to stand and how to speak. Some scenes are more devised than others but we are hoping to have some more stylised than others so that there is a gradual build up to the bomber scene which we want to still be in the centre of the piece.
Some information that will be following soon is concerning a workshop and lecture that we were lucky enough to receive from Richard Schechner, who particularly focused on 9/11 as Avantgarde performance. It was incredibly interesting and a blog will follow soon.
At the moment, this scene is the most physical and the biggest challenge but things are moving along relatively smoothly and we are hoping to have most of this scene marked by next Monday. Below is a lovely video of the bomber scene so far. More to follow when i can make the files smaller!! oh the technological world we live in! Enjoy! They are by no means ready but they are something to develop from which is ideal for us.
Blog soon!
Ellie
We are looking to potentially change the order of the scenes presented in the play, and Stephens actually wrote the play with order changes in mind. One of the most clever elements of Stephens' writing is his attention to detail, nearly every scene has something that connects to another - 'Are you laughing or crying,' pink Floyd between the bomber (four) and the brother (five), Jamaican blue mountain coffee between my character Seven and the lecturer in scene three, cigarettes between the sister (five) and Jason (six) and so on. Therefore, we have decided that some of the stylised gestures of different characters filter into to other scenes somehow.
This process has already begun and is going well. Hopefully, it will become clear to the audience once the scenes are scratched. We are hoping to have each scene scratched by the end of next week so we can really start to get down to the knitty gritty. The devising sides of some of the scenes is going well and cast members are starting to have enough confidence to suggest things which is brilliant considering we want to be an ensemble not just telling them what to do how to stand and how to speak. Some scenes are more devised than others but we are hoping to have some more stylised than others so that there is a gradual build up to the bomber scene which we want to still be in the centre of the piece.
Some information that will be following soon is concerning a workshop and lecture that we were lucky enough to receive from Richard Schechner, who particularly focused on 9/11 as Avantgarde performance. It was incredibly interesting and a blog will follow soon.
At the moment, this scene is the most physical and the biggest challenge but things are moving along relatively smoothly and we are hoping to have most of this scene marked by next Monday. Below is a lovely video of the bomber scene so far. More to follow when i can make the files smaller!! oh the technological world we live in! Enjoy! They are by no means ready but they are something to develop from which is ideal for us.
Blog soon!
Ellie
Saturday 13 February 2010
Bring it on!!
Eventful week so far! We had our auditions and recalls, moving to choosing our cast and our first rehearsals! I have only been the recipient of auditions and never been the person casting so it was quite a surreal experience! The cast for Pornography is integral to its reception by our audience. Ideally, we would have liked to have a multicultural cast, representing a microcosm of London. However, due to a number of factors from the lack of auditionees to the type of auditionees, this has not been possible to the extent we would have liked. However, I do not that this has been to our detriment as we have been extremely lucky to have found an exceptional cast who are suitable for the parts they will play. The read through was so exciting, hearing the performers read their lines already touching upon some of the tone in the scenes we had not noticed before. We cannot wait to get down to it.
We had our first two rehearsals last night and this morning as a full ensemble. In last night's session we also had our lovely designers Sue and Adrian present for the first read through so they could hear the voices come to life off the page. They have reworked the previous set they had envisaged playing further on the 'yellow line' of the underground which is mentioned at the start of the text. Its very exciting hearing their ideas and how our piece will fit into the design and vice-versa.
One of my main tasks for the next few weeks or so is to find exercises which will enable to cast to take on the character work that Hannah specialises in whilst also cleanly fusing the contemporary performance elements and their understanding of these two techniques. George will be the key in fusing the elements together as she has worked in both modes before and will be able to see ways to meld the techniques. I have been looking at Frantic Assembly this week and the way they view text and how to use it in the devising process. Although we want to be 'true' to the language and words of Simon Shepherd, he has left the text open to interpretation and presentation for a reason and we want to play with it as much as we can.
We have to be careful to ensure that we are clear when our performers and acting and when they are performing, playing with the modes so that the play is not presented in a straight forward manner. It would be disappointing to take such an open text to treat it as a straight play. However, we also do nto want it to become so far removed from the text that it is unrecognisable as Shepherd's work. The first performance of Pornography was in Germany and Shepherd actually did this on purpose knowing that the director would completely rip teh text apart and edit as he wanted. They even changed the brother and sister to brother and brother! see link below!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m3r16uRChU
This week we are mainly working with the performers on an individual basis to get to grips with their characters and the monologues or duologues. The faster we can get lines learnt and text understood the faster we can start playing with the presentation. We are also going to be attending a physical theatre workshop held by Elina one of the MA students to try and get the cast on a par in their physical ability as quickly as possible so that they feel comfortable begin creative together with their bodies.
The two key physical exercises that we used today worked well; follow the leader and moving tableaux. However, although we have to start simply to encourage those who have not necessarily had physical theatre experience before, these exercises, whilst being beautiful and insightful, may have been too simple for our cast. We plan to move further quickly employing some of the exercises of Jaques Le Coq; colours and elements.
All in all very happy and bring on the fun and exciting work ahead!
over and out.
Ellie.
We had our first two rehearsals last night and this morning as a full ensemble. In last night's session we also had our lovely designers Sue and Adrian present for the first read through so they could hear the voices come to life off the page. They have reworked the previous set they had envisaged playing further on the 'yellow line' of the underground which is mentioned at the start of the text. Its very exciting hearing their ideas and how our piece will fit into the design and vice-versa.
One of my main tasks for the next few weeks or so is to find exercises which will enable to cast to take on the character work that Hannah specialises in whilst also cleanly fusing the contemporary performance elements and their understanding of these two techniques. George will be the key in fusing the elements together as she has worked in both modes before and will be able to see ways to meld the techniques. I have been looking at Frantic Assembly this week and the way they view text and how to use it in the devising process. Although we want to be 'true' to the language and words of Simon Shepherd, he has left the text open to interpretation and presentation for a reason and we want to play with it as much as we can.
We have to be careful to ensure that we are clear when our performers and acting and when they are performing, playing with the modes so that the play is not presented in a straight forward manner. It would be disappointing to take such an open text to treat it as a straight play. However, we also do nto want it to become so far removed from the text that it is unrecognisable as Shepherd's work. The first performance of Pornography was in Germany and Shepherd actually did this on purpose knowing that the director would completely rip teh text apart and edit as he wanted. They even changed the brother and sister to brother and brother! see link below!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m3r16uRChU
This week we are mainly working with the performers on an individual basis to get to grips with their characters and the monologues or duologues. The faster we can get lines learnt and text understood the faster we can start playing with the presentation. We are also going to be attending a physical theatre workshop held by Elina one of the MA students to try and get the cast on a par in their physical ability as quickly as possible so that they feel comfortable begin creative together with their bodies.
The two key physical exercises that we used today worked well; follow the leader and moving tableaux. However, although we have to start simply to encourage those who have not necessarily had physical theatre experience before, these exercises, whilst being beautiful and insightful, may have been too simple for our cast. We plan to move further quickly employing some of the exercises of Jaques Le Coq; colours and elements.
All in all very happy and bring on the fun and exciting work ahead!
over and out.
Ellie.
Thursday 4 February 2010
Other People's Shoes and Memories
A couple of years ago for my acting module i read a fantastic book; Other People's Shoes by Harriet Walters, a biography of her work in the theatre. It was incredibly interesting as a text to see her journey from young hopeful student to someone successful in their craft. However, i have been thinking recently more and more about the title of the book. I have bgun to wonder if this is what i like about performance.
Although when i chose to come to university rather than drama school i had unconsciously made the decision i wanted to do more than act (although i have drive to be involved in the theatre somehow, i am not convinced that my place was ever really on the stage) i do love the idea of telling peoples stories, whether those stories be fictional whilst playing fictional characters or whether those stories are real through verbatim or auto/biographical performance. Perhaps this is why i have wanted to experiement with these performance modes, no longer interested in the acting that many plays still utilise. It is not that I dislike acting. I still think that more traditional performance such as acting and naturalism does still have a place in Theatre. My problem is learning how to perform these stories in the contemporary performance modes that i prefer to watch and use myself.
When i saw DV8's To Be Straight With You i was mesmorised by the stylistic movement which was not necesserily clearly linked to the words being said live or those used in recordings. However, somehow the action onstage conceptually represented those stories, these real stories that had been collected regarding views on homosexuality, race, equality and so on. At times in the performance you would be listening to a story and become acutly aware that what was being said was not fictional but a real experience being recalled or a real opinion being expressed. Although there are obviously holes in this; what is real on stage when everything is really a lie because truth does not exist onstage anymore, i cannot help but find something far more rewarding in creating material from the everyday person than creating something completely and utterly false through fiction.
In Pornography, one of the problems we may potentially face is how to perform the final scene. Scene 1 is a list, 1 to 52, short descriptions or anecdotes about each victim of the 7/7 bombings. At first we were extremely worries about this section as we were unsure how much truth they were based on. Scene 4 is a monologue of one of the bombers and we have found through research that at the least the first part of the journey described is fabricated by Stephens and is not the actual journey the bomber took. However, the list of voctims in the final scene are all based in truth of the real vicims. Our dramaturg Ursula has researched each victim and each description can be found on the BBC website. The way that this section is performed will ultimately make or break the piece.
Having worked on Verbatim projects previously, hopefully the lessons I learnt from performing verbatim text will aid in methods concerning performance of this scene. Furthermore, my key research project at the moment is a professional study regarding the place of performance and site specific theatre, exploring community and identity in the audience of these pieces. The memory aspect of this particular scene, and the way Stephens has written the other scenes as if they are memories of the characters has also got me thinking about the memory of places of performance and the imprint that humans can leave on buildings.
This, for me is what makes site specific decisions and the reasoning behind these decisions so integral to the aim for the piece but also its reception by the audience. Although we are not employing site specific in our performance the creation of a symbolic space is key for us. Adrian and Sue the designers are currently designing how the space we will perform in will look. I'll keep posted about their ideas!
End scene.
Although when i chose to come to university rather than drama school i had unconsciously made the decision i wanted to do more than act (although i have drive to be involved in the theatre somehow, i am not convinced that my place was ever really on the stage) i do love the idea of telling peoples stories, whether those stories be fictional whilst playing fictional characters or whether those stories are real through verbatim or auto/biographical performance. Perhaps this is why i have wanted to experiement with these performance modes, no longer interested in the acting that many plays still utilise. It is not that I dislike acting. I still think that more traditional performance such as acting and naturalism does still have a place in Theatre. My problem is learning how to perform these stories in the contemporary performance modes that i prefer to watch and use myself.
When i saw DV8's To Be Straight With You i was mesmorised by the stylistic movement which was not necesserily clearly linked to the words being said live or those used in recordings. However, somehow the action onstage conceptually represented those stories, these real stories that had been collected regarding views on homosexuality, race, equality and so on. At times in the performance you would be listening to a story and become acutly aware that what was being said was not fictional but a real experience being recalled or a real opinion being expressed. Although there are obviously holes in this; what is real on stage when everything is really a lie because truth does not exist onstage anymore, i cannot help but find something far more rewarding in creating material from the everyday person than creating something completely and utterly false through fiction.
In Pornography, one of the problems we may potentially face is how to perform the final scene. Scene 1 is a list, 1 to 52, short descriptions or anecdotes about each victim of the 7/7 bombings. At first we were extremely worries about this section as we were unsure how much truth they were based on. Scene 4 is a monologue of one of the bombers and we have found through research that at the least the first part of the journey described is fabricated by Stephens and is not the actual journey the bomber took. However, the list of voctims in the final scene are all based in truth of the real vicims. Our dramaturg Ursula has researched each victim and each description can be found on the BBC website. The way that this section is performed will ultimately make or break the piece.
Having worked on Verbatim projects previously, hopefully the lessons I learnt from performing verbatim text will aid in methods concerning performance of this scene. Furthermore, my key research project at the moment is a professional study regarding the place of performance and site specific theatre, exploring community and identity in the audience of these pieces. The memory aspect of this particular scene, and the way Stephens has written the other scenes as if they are memories of the characters has also got me thinking about the memory of places of performance and the imprint that humans can leave on buildings.
This, for me is what makes site specific decisions and the reasoning behind these decisions so integral to the aim for the piece but also its reception by the audience. Although we are not employing site specific in our performance the creation of a symbolic space is key for us. Adrian and Sue the designers are currently designing how the space we will perform in will look. I'll keep posted about their ideas!
End scene.
Blogging on performance take 2
I have to admit that i have never particularly been into diary writing so this is feeling just a little bit weird for me! I tried to blog recently for a performance i was working on but it was thrown on the backburner when the process of creation became more difficult and time consuming. Basically this blog will be used for me to collect my thoughts regarding the process of work I am creating, discussing rehearsals, commenting upon research and fieldwork but also make general comments upon things that inspire me or evoke a reaction from me.
Currently I am involved in a project collaborating with two directors and two designers; Pornography by Simon Stephens. This is a huge text concerning the week in which G8, Live 8, acceptance of the 2012 Olympic Bid and 7/7 happend. The minute i read the text i knew it was a play for me to really get my teeth into. Its also the perfect text for me, a contemporary performance maker and two directors to work collaborate on together due to its openess in interpretting how it can be performed.
We are hoping to use a mixture of naturalistic performance, physical theatre and contemporary performance modes. the play is divided into seven scenes, and the performance mode used will depend upon the scene. Although at first this sounds like it might not mesh and in some cases it may not, having seen DV8's to be straight with you where physical theatre and text are used together fluidly, we know it is possible. We don't know what it will be like but we want to do the writer justice, do the subject content justice and do ourselves justice.
Over and out.
Ellie
Currently I am involved in a project collaborating with two directors and two designers; Pornography by Simon Stephens. This is a huge text concerning the week in which G8, Live 8, acceptance of the 2012 Olympic Bid and 7/7 happend. The minute i read the text i knew it was a play for me to really get my teeth into. Its also the perfect text for me, a contemporary performance maker and two directors to work collaborate on together due to its openess in interpretting how it can be performed.
We are hoping to use a mixture of naturalistic performance, physical theatre and contemporary performance modes. the play is divided into seven scenes, and the performance mode used will depend upon the scene. Although at first this sounds like it might not mesh and in some cases it may not, having seen DV8's to be straight with you where physical theatre and text are used together fluidly, we know it is possible. We don't know what it will be like but we want to do the writer justice, do the subject content justice and do ourselves justice.
Over and out.
Ellie
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