So the end of our second "rest" week, (with little rest and lots more to think about as we enter the final three weeks of this term). Eventful, fruitful, distracting, useful, useless, frustrating...these are words that summarise right now,as I sit here with a coffee and cast my mind back, a week that has been many things...
Firstly, our showings on Monday were eventful and useful, seeing the work of peers and colleagues does make us feel closer to each other but I fear I am missing a lot more than I am gaining. I want to hear more always, quiz the performers, ask them of their experiences, learn more than I can simply watching them go through exercises - the work on "I am Ophelia" was great to see, with so many responses and I think finally some work that demonstrated potential for performance - we were watching characters, not our colleagues in exercises. I do however resent having to participate in what felt like an arbitrary exercise, with little framing of its use - something odd in the feeling of taking shoes off - which is interesting as I had the impulse to do that same thing in my workshop yesterday - and refused it.
Then the scenographers, who were presenting mood boards and gave us a glimpse into their work with the human body and their installations. Each design team had represented their work beautifully, thoughtfully and for me further developed the work we all saw in the first showings. However, yet again this work felt detached, wasn't as well framed as it could have been - why aren't we able to have the time to really work together, understand each other and individual processes?! Some of the designers are brilliant at bringing us closer to their concepts but some need more time, more impulse to really bring their creative vision to the foreground. (I raise this as a point that may impact our company work in 2010 - where designers and directors and performers need to collaborate, build bridges and form partnerships - I think too I want to find my Christopher Oram (if we assume I am of course Michael Grandage?! Go with me on this) - I would love to discover a long lasting design partner and build a shared working language....
I must say, Rikki's presentation, her production pipeline and exquisite drawings on Thursday were inspiring, her approach, obvious flair and passion are wonderful - I am finding myself drawn closer to the style - the work is beautiful and reminds me of the wonderful Manga films that I saw as a teenager (and must start watching again)...
...I have said something on the writing/wrighting presentation but here again I will mention how there was a sense of a lack of interest, a feeling of "oh - the writers" in the room...a reticence to enjoy the presentation - a sense the performers wanted to engage more with our work. A note on this, I have become protective of my writing, I AM NOT A WRITER, I hear myself say and yet here I am with two pieces of authored text that I am protective of....this is fascinating...(more still on that later)....
Then we presented research ideas, I have posted mine and we continue to draw links there, interesting work as it develops and I am sure that I will be pursuing a site"specific" pathway - building on Dissertation work and collaborating with designers and performers who want to unlock the potential of non theatre building sites. This may tie in nicely with Nabokov research and also The Market Estate Project which I will be getting off the tracks from next week....we shall see....
Then Misha's lecture, the final in his series of 4. I struggle to find words here - I have, I will admit not engaged because of the wealth of resources, the meandering pathways through so much philosophy and theatrical thinking - yes, taking in the great practitioners and thinking - yes questioning but not feeling as if I have been guided towards answers. I also have a horrid feeling of a lack of relevance to this - studying practice from the mid to latter 1/3 of the 20th Century which I think is being rejected somewhat or at least reappraised by a new generation of makers. I could not watch a performance piece where the "performer" cut her hands over a period of 10minutes, something in me rejected the relevance of this - refused to watch self mutilation and call it performance....Misha has, indeed planted seeds of thought but these seeds are yet to be cultivated - perhaps I will return when necessary, re-read his provocations and the materials of his course, delve deeper into the point/pointlessness of such work and decide where my own tastes lie...
I also then, to round off the week lead my workshop, devising, creating, "authoring ensemble" - from the complex and emotive story of Marwa el Sherbini, who was brutally murdered in a Dresden courtroom - today I am going to reflect, go through and write up the workshop - suggest directions and observations for the 18 participants who assisted me and will post that information here....one thing to note though, it was fantastic to be creating, to have the impulse and then the means to explore a narrative - to play, to experience, I hope that I can use this energy, this excitement and let it grow through the final weeks....
Finally, with Bernardo and Geraldine - a meeting, (development, script, first rehearsal?!) on our project "Touch" [very much a working title] we have a text, an observer (is director too strong a word) and two performers - we have an ambition - a showing in Brighton in the new year (and scratch at the Dogstar, Brixton in December) and rehearsals planned. The text is yielding lots of material and I am working on a rehearsal plan for next Monday over the weekend - this work feels exciting, it is engaging and the performers are inspiring me greatly - more of that work as it develops - here of course...
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