Category Archives: Ideas

Victoria Melody & new set design

Posted on by

Today I brought all my props into the performance space. I originally had many more objects, however I decided that having the stage bursting at the seams with props, along with the glitter ball effect, would be visually too much. Therefore, I decided to only use objects that are referred to in the dialogue, or relevant to the overall piece. I feel that objects such as the giant teddy portrays my immaturity and desire not to grow up, yet the theatrical masks hanging from the sign quoting inspiration slogans portrays my constant desire to perform.

 13241709_10208310616096339_885148823_o

Having a family photo on stage was a choice influenced by Victoria Melody’s performance Hair Peace (2016). When speaking about her sister and friend, she projected images of them onto TV screens. As an audience member, I felt that I knew the people she was explaining on a more intimate level, despite the fact that they were never present.

Hair Peace Collage hair 2

Hair-Peace.-Photo-Credit-Richard-Davenport-2-650x250

However, what makes my performance different to Hair Peace is that the people I’m talking about are present. My family and boyfriend will be in the audience. By having the photos of them on stage, the audience can make the connection between the photo and the physical people without me specifically referencing their presence. Earlier on in the creation process, I had intended to project photos of my family onto TV screens in an almost identical format to Victoria Melody. However, after finding out that the people I would be speaking about would actually be present, I decided that projecting obvious images of them was unnecessary, and a more subtle approach would be more suitable.

Creating the cocoon

Posted on by

   Research and influences

One of the main underlying themes of my performance is this idea of a cocoon and metamorphosis. When speaking through my performance it was suggested that just having a black curtained off area was not enough to portray the cocoon. With this in mind, I began researching into performances that had a performance space that transported the audience into a different space and time, like my cocoon. I immediately thought back to a performance that I watched for a previous module, children’s theatre performance, Arnold’s Big Adventure (2015). The performance took place in a small tent, situated in the corner of a large rehearsal studio in The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. The actors spoke to the audience before entering the tent, stating that when they step foot through the doors, they are entering “the magical glade”. Inside the tent the audience were surrounded by the performance, and, although I don’t wish to be so childish and patronising to my audience, the creation of such an inclusive, immersive space was highly influential for my performance.

13153257_10208277594910830_468012767_n 13224049_10208277595070834_1565683817_o

This led my research into how to recreate this visually immersive space for my performance. Last year I watched Compagnia TPO’s performance Bleu (2015) which, unbeknown to me at the time, would prove to be very useful for constructing the set for my solo performance. The set was basic, there were no large props or naturalistic set design, only layers of sheer material hung from the rig. The material was lowered and surrounded the actors and participating audience members. What inspired me the most from Bleu, was the material they used. I really liked the idea of using sheer netting material for my set, to represent the silk web that cocoons are made from.

13153357_10208277594950831_794875172_n 13170664_10208277594990832_983909634_o

Experimenting with set and lighting

During class today, we experimented with the possible technical aspects of our performances. I took this opportunity to bring my staging and lighting ideas to life. I took the idea of cloth/silk from Bleu and tried to incorporate it, however, the cloths took up too much performance space when draped across the stage. I therefore decided to have four strands hanging on the far wall to still subtly portray the silk netting of the cocoon.

13230838_10208282249107182_526213259_o

13211043_10208282249627195_217956101_o

Whilst experimenting with different lighting states, the disco ball was lit above my performance space. All of a sudden it created this amazing space. Small specs of light shone in every direction, and it created a surreal, magical, space. This is exactly what I wanted.

  My set design will consist of white drapes of muslin, hung on the far wall and down lit with a subtle ‘homely’ pink tinge. A white light will be shone onto the disco ball to create 360 degrees of subtle specs of light.

13184767_10208277196340866_1401202935_o   13199183_10208277192340766_750391284_o

Adam Page’s influence on my musical creation

Posted on by

When it came to creating this looped song, I thought it would have been much simpler than it actually turned out to be. When faced with learning how to use this loop pedal (something I’ve never used before), it was a daunting task, made even more daunting with the knowledge of a live audience. But over the last couple of days I’ve turned to my most influential solo performer for some guidance, Adam Page. During the beginning of this process a lot of my work was influenced by Laurie Anderson, which subsequently allowed me to form the basis of my show. However, as my ideas and concepts have developed, I have found my work steering away from the constant avant-garde musical underscoring of Laurie Anderson and more onto narrative and musical storytelling artists such as Adam Page.

maxresdefaultadampage-300x200

I watched numerous of his performances, and gathered performance acting techniques, as well as musical techniques.

What I’ve learn from Adam

He is a great storyteller. He structures many of his shows around a single event or story, tells that story, then improvises a song about it. I would like to use this structure within my performance. To use the song as a commentary on my situation and story, rather than the song as the main focus like in much of Laurie Anderson’s work.

All of his musical work is completely improvised. This therefore makes the performance seem raw and slightly rugged. I really like this and think this honesty could be quite endearing in my performance. As the performances are all improvised, the objects he chooses to make music from are randomly picked from the objects around him. I like this a lot, and although my objects will be pre-chosen, I will perform it as though they are spontaneous decisions. I think doing this will be more in keeping with the relaxed, chilled out atmosphere, rather than being structured and pre-planned (which is completely contrasting to my cocoon).

My attempt at looping 

Below is an example of one of many first attempts at looping. It was not as complex as I wanted the final song to be, but it was one of many stepping-stones towards the final piece.

After many days of experimenting with sounds and rhythms, below is a recording of the final song. Also, if the worst happens and it all goes wrong in the performance (as is often with live music), this is proof of what it should have sounded like!

An alternative ending

Posted on by

After developing my performance structure and the self-revelation of the final section, I found that the ending I had originally planned, didn’t conclude the show as powerfully as I had intended. At some silly hours of the morning, I randomly came up with the final line to my performance: ‘Our relationships are the orchestra, and we are the conductor, and we conduct our own metamorphosis’. I was planning to end it simply by saying this line after the making the music. Through working on my script and understanding the intentions behind each section, I found that I wanted a more powerful ending. Something a little more symbolic and dramatic to end on.

I decided to go with the obvious symbolic ending, not because it was an easy option, but because I felt it clearly symbolises the next stage of my play, leaving the audience with a slight cliffhanger. I decided to get changed out of my pjs into normal clothes (preparing myself for the outside world), packing a bag with a few objects around me (although I’m leaving, my family will always be a part of my adventure), and leave the stage (leaving my cocoon and chasing my dreams). The lights will gradually dim to a very low brightness, almost off. I will go to turn off the freestanding stage lamp that will be in the far right corner, but change my mind, leaving a small spotlight shining. Before I leave the stage, I will stand in the spotlight and deliver the final line – ‘our relationships are the orchestra, and we are the conductor, and we conduct our own metamorphosis’; I shall then proceed to leave through the small entrance in the curtain.

This is the lamp that will be left lit. This lamp is highly symbolic in my performance for many reasons. My dad made this for my Christmas present. He got in contact with my old childhood theatre company and brought the lamp off them, and he spent months restoring it. This not only represents my relationship with my dad and family, it also represents my life long dream to have a career in the arts, and my parents support for this dream.

12391423_10207233675213490_3422267988060835982_n