The politics of theatre, a theatre of politics...

It certainly feels as if we are in the thick of it once again, after a week of exposure to the expectations of the establishment towards our research projects, we are now, back in workshops and rehearsal rooms. A note on the research heavy first week. There is a trend emerging to spend great amounts of time on the abstract, whether that is academic poster sessions that last for 2 hours and do not even in that time narrow down the boundaries or potential in such a synthesis of creativity and scholarship, through to the 2 days spent listening to research largely from PhD study and therefore (as was mentioned) different by its very nature. I have little reservation in saying that the act of research is one that fascinates and excites me. However, this act, is one that must be time consuming, thorough and rigourous, perhaps also individual. We are being encouraged, yes, to develop and deliver our individual research interest but crucially this must exist within a group culture of up to 5. This group must present at a conference and develop a thorough piece of research that is informative and scholarly.

This conference, like a distant object seen through fog does not even after last week seem to have been fully justified on what is a practice focussed, explorative MA programme. Perhaps the institution is evolving into a research centred hub of practitioners, not necessarily a bad thing but I would not like the singular difference at this school, the potential for risk taking and constructing of performance without having to contextualise, frame, academically appraise the work as you go. I am engaged now in a lifelong research project, that which is centred around a career as a director. These tasks are useful as they do widen your reading habits, they do get you considering the context and future of work but in this same instance, this research project can not overshadow a need to make good work that is relevant now.

To pause here. I am hoping to broaden my own context by:

1. Visiting the new Medieval and Renaissance Galleries at the V&A

2. Picking up more poetry, (ever since the recent RA exhibition on climate change I have been meaning to explore poetry and art forms as narrative devices and provocative stimuli)

3. Go and watch 'The Road'

It has now become the case that if I do not write these lists, whether here or in one of several notebooks, I let them slip. I allow myself to repeat the routines of school, work, home, documentation and forget that the broader context needs to be brought into my work and therefore I need the experiences of the above in order to contextualise my own practice.

I also made the admission over dinner last night that, "the stress of existing on this course is, now, like it has previously, clouding the creative impulses that I have had". Is this really true? I have certainly discovered a stash of scrap paper with scribbled (mostly awful) ideas and yet despite my lack of excitement for them now, I have perhaps stopped making new ideas, or at least recording them. I need to grab some more time to do this, to reflect upon the daily tasks, issues, discussions and then close a door, start a blank page and remember my own place as an artist.

THE ARTISTS REALITY

I am reading at the moment, Mark Rothko's musings on art and art practice, which is a wonderful context for all artists existing within a culture, a society of patronage. The book, which I am still taking time to move through explores Rothko's own philosophies on art but also adds a context to his condition, his own work. Less biographical than I thought, it provides fascinating explorations of processes and reception of art and is a book that I would recommend to performance makers as much as artists working with paint, canvas or sculptural form.

Four's Company(?!)

We have also had the task this week of forming our Practices company - the group of performance makers we most want to work with for the coming months in realising a new piece of work. This was initially organised by finding a second research group that perhaps shared or contrasted one's own interests, however, what seems to have happened is that groups have had quiet conversations and made decisions based upon structures that are not too dissimilar from hierarchical structures so often criticised in our ensemble. I have found myself in one of these structured (but would argue as a result we are incredibly strong and I would not change the group at all). Lauren, Liz, Prae and I are embarking upon a sustained exploration of space, audience, commitment, artistry, collaborative practice, design as integral, supportive rehearsal rooms, role of director, performer and audience, intimate/interactive, experiential performance and are working brilliantly well across Cultural Landscapes, Research & Practices. Yet, would we benefit from another performer, another designer, perhaps two more performers? Can we reconcile the discrepancies with larger companies with many performers and other skills/disciplines represented? Liz and I have begun a discussion, we have agreed that we have formed a company not too dissimilar to professional models and are balanced in that respect - we do however, recognise that the work we make now is to a certain extent defined by those right people in the room. I am a little nervous, but this is also tinged with excitement and will not allow myself to make work that is not "good" (do what you want with that word - I myself am still discovering the right usage and definition).