Now I’ve had a couple of sessions in my performance space, I feel more confident in terms of what materials I definitely know that I need and those that I could supplement for other, more efficient, materials.  For example, I was considering buying a sheet of metallic fabric in which to cover the ladder to form a structure and create the illusion that the ladder is a huge rock which I then climb.  However, not only would this be more expensive, but I actually prefer the idea that the audience can see the shape of the ladder and the steps that almost present the idea that I’m climbing stairs that are taking me directly towards the sky, with the ladder simultaneously being a metaphor for the plane on which I am flying .  By separating the metaphorical image of the ladder from the actual purpose of the ladder I feel enhances the illusion more as it ties into this notion that I am playing a child who is an adult who is giving in to her fantasies when they arise and which juxtapose the reality she is in.  I feel this is a recurrent theme throughout, particularly as the monologue is episodic.  Structuring the piece this way also presents the idea that children, especially of a young age, are extremely playful and get distracted very easily, letting their imaginations run wild, turning from one thing to the next in quick succession.

The Illusion – what she sees is actually something else.

ASSOCIATION.

As I’ve been researching the work of Laurie Anderson, I’ve come across some ideas that run parallel to the aims and intentions of my piece.  The first is her use of structure in which her performance United States (1983) uses the episodic narrative that my monologue has.  Anderson introduces a theme/topic/idea in any one of these mini episodes and “their recurrence [throughout the piece] suggests connections between different moments of the performance” (Auslander, 1992, 74).  This resembles my monologue in that, between the three difference episodes, experiences and stories, there is the framing device of hide and seek which connects the episodes together and which enables me to transition between these three very different parts fluidly, to make the performance connected. This is especially important as it focuses on presenting both reality and fantasy.

This links to Anderson’s use of text in that she “distinguishes between words that are for reading and those that are for saying out loud” (Bonney, 2000, 82).  For me, this idea is presented through the use of voiceover, where songs and thoughts are recorded and interject spoken text which aims to show what the character is thinking versus what she is doing.

By connecting and creating my piece in this ways also relates to the work created by Spalding Gray, whose monologue in Swimming to Cambodia is presented as a thought or stream of consciousness, in which Gray rapidly and constantly changes subject and theme throughout the 70min piece.  As a result, the piece becomes associative through images and figures mentioned that accumulate to form the fragmented but connected monologue.

“Peering beyond a monologist’s stage presence into his uncensored mind” (Garner, 2011).

REALITY V. FANTASY (appearing and disappearing between worlds):-

References:

Auslander, P. (1992) Presence and Resistance: Postmodernism and Cultural Politics in Contemporary American Performance. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Bonney, J. (ed.) (2000) Extreme Exposure: An Anthology of Solo Performance Texts from the Twentieth Century. New York: Theatre Communications Group.

Garner, D. (2011) Peering Beyond a Monologist’s Stage Presence Into His Uncensored Mind. [online article] Available from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/books/journals-of-spalding-gray-edited-by-nell-casey-review.html [Accessed 19 March 2014].

LenkaVEVO (2009) Lenka – The Show (New Version). [online video] Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elsh3J5lJ6g&feature=kp [Accessed 15 April 2014].

I am now at the point in my performance process where I am starting to collate props and am attempting to configure a pattern and movement to my piece.  Now that the monologue is written and the concept is fully established, I wish to try to bring page to stage by experimenting within the space, in learning the monologue and in sorting the practicalities of tech and set etc.  To do so, I have had to reconsider some of my artistic choices as they could be difficult to create within the studio space.  The first is the ceiling projection that I wished to have to reflect the night sky that would have been the backdrop for one of the episodes within the monologue and which would come towards the end of the show.  By having this particular part at the end also marks a kind of transition from day to night, start to end.  The difficulty in producing this effect however, lies in the fact that if I had a ceiling projection a) I would need a white drape that would reflect the image clearly to the audience, but in doing so, would cover the lighting rig and so would be problematic in terms of lighting the rest of the show and b) the projector would have to be situated in the centre of the space and so I would have to be aware of its presence to avoid tripping over it and it could potentially provide a distraction for the audience.  This would not be aesthetically pleasing, especially considering that my performance is based around the idea of creating a beautiful, calm and peaceful space. Therefore, I am thinking about potentially lighting a disco ball that could give the entire space a starry glow and would remain in the rigging which would eliminate the need for the projector to be on the floor OR hang fairy lights vertically down from, or crisscrossing, across the rigging.  Again, when I’m in the space I guess I’ll have to see which is the more practical but these are a couple of design ideas I particularly like in terms of visualising and realising this effect:

Hendricks, R. (2009) Untitled.

Bradley, S. (undatedb) Tewin Bury Farm Lighting.

Bradley, S. (undatedb) Ufton Court.

Having the lights draped in this way would also eliminate the need for any fairy lights to be placed down the sides of the space, in front of the curtains, which would reduce the quantity of lights that I’d need as the ceiling lights would give the desired effect instantaneously.

In terms of costume, I was first thinking of wearing a white dress that would signify innocence which plays a key part in my piece, especially considering I’m basing it on childhood.  Secondly, I was considering wearing dungarees as this was a staple piece of clothing that frequented my childhood! However, the difficulty was in finding a pair that were 3/4 rather than shorts or full length which I felt was important to get right as it could make the character seem too old/too young etc.  Plus they were fairly expensive! In keeping with the idea of wearing casual clothing however, instead of something that is more symbolic, I settled for a coral colour dress that is going to be worn with white plimsolls and white frilly socks which will be comfortable to perform in and present the character of a young girl.

References:

Bradley, S. (undateda) Tewin Bury Farm Lighting. [online] Oxfordshire: Oakwood Events Ltd.  Available from http://www.oakwoodevents.co.uk/blog/fairy-lights-at-tewin-bury-farm/[Accessed 2 April 2014].

Bradley, S. (undatedb) Ufton Court. [online] Oxfordshire: Oakwood Events Ltd.  Available from http://www.oakwoodevents.co.uk/venues/ufton-court.php [Accessed 2 April 2014].

Hendricks, R. E. (2009) Untitled. New York, USA: Ruth E Hendricks Photography.  Available from http://rutheh.com/tag/disco-ball/ [Accessed 2 April 2014].

In starting to think about the practicalities of my project and how I’m going to manifest my vision in the studio space, I have been conducting research into looking at performance artists who specifically work with nature as I wish to bring, to an extent, the outdoors indoors.  Whilst reading Alison Oddey’s Reframing the Theatrical: Interdisciplinary Landscapes for Performance, which spoke about the connection between the artist, the spectator and the performative space, I came across an artist called Richard Long.

This is his manifesto:

“In the nature of things:
Art about mobility, lightness and freedom.
Simple creative acts of walking and marking
about place, locality, time, distance and measurement.
Works using raw materials and my human scale
in the reality of landscapes.

The music of stones, paths of shared footmarks,
sleeping by the river’s roar” (Long, 2014).

 This relates very much to my piece in that what I envisage is a performance that surrounds the notions of memory, of journey, of distance and the crossing of boundaries between what was and what is.  By bringing materials from the outside to the inside, there is this transference from it being taken from its original habitat and placed somewhere it doesn’t recognise.  This creates a feeling of artificiality in an attempt to recreate and also parallels the notion of bringing the past into the present, the memories of the subconscious to the conscious, to the forefront of the piece.  Long’s text based pieces, predominantly A Walk in a Green Forest, relate to the monologue I have created as the thread through, the journey, that the audience will follow.  His writing is typographical in style and follows the process and speed of thought.  In this particular piece, the text was beautifully descriptive, “magnolia trees like patches of snow” (Long, 1997) and through this I gathered that this was a form of documentation.  Throughout many of his pieces, he involves the placement and displacement of stones and the replacing of these on his worldwide journeys, experimenting with the polarities of distance and place.

By looking into the work he creates through sculpture I was able to draw a connection with the idea of texture.  That the performance space I do create triggers various emotional reactions for the spectators.  I.e. I wish to use a soft blue fabric to represent a lake, with the stepping stones placed on top of this un-moving, made of a courser material.  In these two textures alone there is a juxtaposition in thought and feeling which will hopefully encourage the spectators to relate to the piece in a way that feels memorable and personal to them.  It will also allow me to, within my monologue, experiment with the way I move around the space in terms of the connection I have to the materials and the way I use the objects within the space.

Spaceinbetween (2005) China Clay Fast Spiral

Spaceinbetween (2004) Five Long Paths

Researching Richard Long’s work reminded me of Jonathan Livingston Seagull which I was encouraged to read by my lecturer.  A short fascinating read and beautifully descriptive, it informed a small section of my monologue where I talk about flying on a plane for the first time.  I use the following quote as verbatim in my show: “The speed was power and the speed was joy and the speed was pure beauty” (Bach, 1994, 16).  Instead of talking about a seagull however, I, through this quote, refer to a plane! This book really encouraged me, throughout the process of creating my own script, to think about detail and the structure of language so the audience can become attached to my piece through thinking and feeling certain emotions, as they feel fit, through the language that they hear.

Nicholls, N. (2014) Staging Ideas.

References:

Bach, R. (1994) Jonathan Livingston Seagull. London: Harper Collins.

Long, R. (2014) Richard Long. [online] Available from http://www.richardlong.org/ [Accessed 19 March 2014].

Long, R. (1997) A Walk in a Green Forest. [online] Aomori, Japan: Spaceinbetween.  Available from http://www.richardlong.org/Textworks/2011textworks/47.html [Accessed 19 March 2014].

Long, R. (2005) China Clay Fast Spiral. [online] Haunch of Venison, London: Spaceinbetween.  Available from http://www.richardlong.org/Exhibitions/2011exhibitupgrades/chinaspiral.html [Accessed 19 March 2014].

Long, R. (2004) Five Long Paths. [online] Braga, Portugal: Spaceinbetween.  Available from http://www.richardlong.org/Exhibitions/2011exhibitupgrades/fivepaths.html [Accessed 19 March 2014].

“[The curtain rises to reveal a view of the lake, the moon on the horizon, its reflection in the water; Nina Zarechnaya is sitting on a large rock, all in white.]

Nina: Men, lions, eagles and partridges, antlered deer, geese, spiders, silent fish which live in the water, starfish and organisms invisible to the eye – in short, all life, all life, all life has been extinguished after completing its sad cycle…For thousands of centuries the earth has not borne a single living being, and this poor moon lights her lantern to no purpose.  In the meadow the cranes give their waking cry no more and in May the cockchafers are no longer heard in the lime groves.  It is cold, cold, cold.  It is empty, empty, empty.  It is frightening, frightening, frightening.

[A pause.]

The bodies of living beings have turned into dust and eternal matter has changed them into stones, into water, into clouds, and all their spirits have merged into one. I…I am universal spirit…In me is the spirit of Alexander the Great and Caesar and Shakespeare and Napoleon, and that of the meanest leech.  In me human consciousness has merged with animal instinct, and I remember everything, everything, and every life I live out in myself anew.

[Marsh lights appear on the lake.]…

I am lonely. Once in a hundred years I open my mouth to speak, and my voice sounds dolefully in this emptiness and no one hears…And you, pale lights, do not hear me…Towards dawn the decaying marsh spawns you and you roam till dawn, but without thought, without will, without tremor of life. Afraid that life might begin in you, the father of eternal matter, the devil, changes your atoms every instant, like those of the rocks and the water, and you continuously change. Only one spirit in the universe remains constant and immutable.

[A pause.]

Like a prisoner cast into an empty deep well, I do no know where I am and what awaits me. It is only revealed to me that in the unyielding cruel fight with the devil, the principles of the forces of matter, I am destined to conquer, and therefore matter and spirit will blend in a beautiful harmony and there will come the kingdom of universal will. But this will only be when little by little, over a long sequence of millenia, the moon and bright Sirius will have turned to dust…But till then horror, horror” (Chekhov, 2002, 91-93).

It was through creating the visual aspect to the set of my performance that I could draw connections with Nina’s monologue from The Seagull. In wanting to create a space that is based on memories and on the act of remembering, somewhere away from the realities of the world, I cannot help but draw comparisons to the character of Nina and the set of the play in which she is acting.  For The Seagull, Chekhov uses a play within a play device that builds a multi-dimensional layer as to the interpretation of the piece.  The ethereal nature of the monologue, based on existence, draws me to look at how I can use and structure my dialogue.  From this monologue, I gather the feeling that Nina is talking about a life outside of herself which gives her character a 3 dimensional outlook on life.  It is as if she is alive but looking down on herself at the same time and I guess this is what I’m trying to create myself in my performance.  By looking into my past for autobiographical memories, memories that can be shared and relatable to the audience in their essence, i.e. ‘the first time I…’ it is recreating a sense of childhood whilst maintaining a sense of immediacy in the present.

Reference:

Chekhov, A. (2002) Plays: Ivanov, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard.  Translated from Russian by Peter Carson.  London: Penguin Classics.

This past week I’ve been playing around with more ideas surrounding the ideas of peace and serenity, feelings I want to evoke through my performance and the performance space.  It is therefore important that the dialogue I have supports this.  However, I’m finding it difficult to create dialogue in a space and an environment that I’ve already determined and solidified.  As a result, I briefly considered turning the imagistic quality of the space into an installation.  This way, I would alleviate my fears that I would be forcing the audience to think a certain way, a fear I have in terms of approaching the dialogue side to the performance, but despite this, I am confident that I wish to use dialogue as I enjoy the performative aspect of performing.  I just need to make sure that I approach it in the right way.  These are some of the ideas I’ve had:

INSTALLATION

*To be asleep on the astro turf – This would set up the premise of the piece – ‘I awoke as if from a dream’

*Yoga positions

*To focus on emotions – have a soundtrack in the background of peaceful and calm music that evokes certain memories

I then used these ideas to try to help me come up with ways as to how I could approach my dialogue.  I therefore researched into things to do on a sunny day and came up with the following:

*Walking

*Drawing/Photography

*Conquer fears?!

*Spend time with family

I then combined both sets of ideas in the hope of creating some text.  Walking has this inherent notion of journey and destiny that I figure will play a dominant role in the piece in creating a pathway around the space in which the meaning will bear relation to the way the text will finally be structured.

In moving from the silent, I started to listen to a few songs whose lyrics triggered some ideas surrounding the idea of memory, childhood and innocence.

“Fell from the sky

Fell from the sky and started walking

Leaving our footprints on the ground.

Wherever we go we make a sound…

Let go…

Before we’re gone forever” (Foxes, 2014)

Also including this concept of the past is a song called ‘Journey to the Past’ from Anastasia the children’s film.

“Home, love, family

One step at a time,

One hope then another” (Callaway, 1997)

It was in noting down these lyrics that I started to consider creating dialogue based on short autobiographical stories along the lines of ‘I remember…’ Thus the structure of the piece will enable room for movement and progression in changes of tone, mood and atmosphere.  Once the dialogue is written, I then hope to get an idea in terms of how I can then incorporate movement and action that will support the dialogue.  Not forgetting, of course, the importance light and sound will have on my piece too!

Nicholls, N. (2014) Developing My Script.

References:

FoxesVEVO (2014) Foxes – Let Go For Tonight (Official Video).  [online video]  Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pecj5GGjQi8 [Accessed 13 March 2014].

Anastasia Romanov (2013) Anastasia – Journey to the Past (Lyrics) (BluRay HD).  [online video]  Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEL0EGnHdsk [Accessed 13 March 2014].