The development of my stage layout.

The final layout.

This photo shows an up close, end on view of my stage space with the chairs either side of the projector screen marking the white drapes, the other the ladder.

 

This photo includes two other drapes, used as markers, to surround and enclose the space.  This was in response to my feedback from my work in progress.

Whilst trying to accumulate my ideas and attempting to put them into some sort of a concept, I came across a performance artist named Lindsey Stirling.  She is a violinist who dances whilst playing, creating original music.

A contemporary twist on a traditional art form.

The aspects of her work that interest me the most are:

*Her use of shadows

*Her use of light and dark

*Her settings – elaborate and thematic

*To let the music do the talking – powerful imagery

*The beauty of the composition

Links to two of my favourite pieces.  The first is actually the first video I came across of her work.  Called Shadows it plays with the self and the shadow of the self, playing with synchronicity, cannonising movements between herself and the shadow and playing with the humour this creates when both fall out of the pattern. In a way this reminds me of the story of Peter Pan and his shadow that returns to this idea of the power of the imagination, the depths and inhibitions of the mind, the subconscious.

Earth. Air. Water. Fire. The 4 Elements. What attracted me to this video was her use of these 4 elements. All were imagistic, dancing in the rain, being surrounded by the wind, hot-footing the fire and gracing the earth.

 Imagination. Imagery. Illusion. Ideality.

References:

Fanpop (undated) Lindsey Stirling. [online] Available from http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/music/images/33546505/title/lindsey-stirling-photo [Accessed 3 March 2014].

Lindsey Stirling (2012) Shadows – Lindsey Stirling (Original Song).  [online video] Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGCsyshUU-A [Accessed 22 February 2014].

Lindsey Stirling (2012) Song of the Caged Bird.  [online video] Canada: Lindsey Stirling.  Available from http://lindseystirling.ca/videos/page/3/ [Accessed 3 March 2014].

Lindsey Stirling (2012) Elements – Lindsey Stirling (Dubstep Violin Original). [online video] Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf6LD2B_kDQ [Accessed 3 March 2014].

Over the past few weeks, I have been developing a solo performance that originated from a given stimulus from my lecturer:

A chair is down stage right.  Lit from the side.  A voice is heard.  What does the voice say?

At first I think I took the task too literally and so I was considering voices that followed the tone of the piece that had been set up, that for me felt very cold, dark and eerie.  However, in wandering down this route, I was able to create the opening to this sequence.  I started off with fragmented questions, only using the beginnings of such questions, for example ‘Can you, Will you’.  I imagined these to be recorded and played off stage as it is just the voice that is initially heard.

Presence.  Absence.

This sequence would gradually build in tension and pace so that when it reached the completion of a question, the final word that is heard is ‘truth’.  My aim in creating this piece was to keep the meaning very ambiguous so that when the figure of the voice appeared, she would be the “outer manifestation” (Carroll, 1979, 56) of her inner thoughts and feelings (as spoken about in an earlier blog), something that the audience would not at first recognise until this entrance.

“That the represented body has a language and that this language of the body, like other semantic systems, is unstable” (Warr, 2000, 13)

 Upon her entrance, the figure would remain in the dark until the appropriate time within the monologue to sit down.  Throughout this tiny speech, almost set around the style and structure of an interview, shifts within the tone of the monologue would be the performer’s cue to slightly alter her position, whether it is a click of the finger or a crossing of the leg.

This monologue would then ‘cut’ – in that a recorded voice would shout this much like a director would do on a film set, bringing into play the theme of acting/performance/theatre/being interviewed, tying them all together -into an atmosphere that placed her as the centre of attention, of what she has just been commenting on.  This would differ from that atmosphere previously established as she would directly address the audience at this point, as if she is now the host, the interviewer.

The performance reaches its climax when a camera flash starts and she is forced into the spotlight once again.  This time what she says are answers to those questions proposed earlier in the performance.

The “‘here and now’ is imbricated with phenomena of memory and anticipation” (Giannachi et al, 2012, 7)

This time, she is in fear; she feels exposed and has lost the calm composure gained at the beginning of the performance.

“The ‘private’ is the ‘public’ and the artists body is always and never ours to keep” (Warr, 2000, 43)

It might be nice to use some of this material I have experimented with in this exercise in my final 10 min solo performance piece.

References:

Carroll, N. (1979) Amy Taubin: The Solo Self. The Drama Review, 23 (1) 51-58.

Giannachi, G., Kaye, N. and Shanks, M. (2012) Archaeologies of Presence. London and New York: Routledge.

Warr, T. (2000) The Artist’s Body. London: Phaidon Press.

Over the past few weeks, as we’ve been researching different solo artists within the field, many ideas have started to occur in terms of the potential and the possibilities with what I can do with my own solo performance.

I’m taken by the idea of being theatrical, to make the audience aware of the fact that my performance is a performance that was an idea enhanced through researching solo performer David Cale:

*As a solo performer he is known as a storytelling monologist and refers to his work as being ‘theatrical’ (Churnin, 1990) so much so that it’s almost like you’re in a novel.

*Through his poetic storytelling technique, powerful imagery is evoked. He achieves this by the idealism/hope/optimism/romanticism he creates in his work which is almost fairytale like.  For instance The History of Kisses, 2011, is a fictional monologue ‘about a writer who’s trying to finish a collection of stories that all take place by the sea and they’re all romantic’ (Kansas City Repertory Theatre Company, 2011).

*His way of working is to write stories, characters, monologues and words that fit with music and then put them all together.  With his show Palomino, 2009, he says the music is scored ‘like a film’, but dressed very simply as it’s all about the performance’ (Center Theatre Group, 2010).

The theatre is generally regarded as a place and space of escapism from the ordinariness of everyday life.  Focusing on this will enable me to play with these notions of illusion and reality, between what is happening and what could happen for instance.

“To blur everyday life with the fictional realm of performance” (Govan et al, 2007, 21)

In blurring this distinction, it would also allow me to experiment with the performing of the subconscious in opposition to what is conscious.  This would provide the connection between the real and the imagined in terms of the pictures and images created from the language spoken.  In revealing the unruly, the subconscious, “the imaginary distance between performer and the work performed” (Howell, 1979, 154) would be enhanced and I would aim to exploit this connection further through experimentation with lights, sound, tone and atmosphere.

“Where her words rather than her body dominate the production…the use of the text as a stream of consciousness is meant to stand for consciousness” (Carroll, 1979, 54-55)

Grappling with all of these ideas will also allow me to create a piece, not wholly autobiographically, but one that contains within it elements of my personal imagination.

To be true to myself.

The “presentation of self and role…encounter with one’s own sense of self” (Giannachi et al, 2012, 2)

In terms of creating a performance that combines all of the elements I have been deliberating over, I’m keen to base the concept of my performance around the idea of the acting industry.  Being in my 3rd year, I am at a time in my life where I am considering many career options and in studying Drama, acting is potentially a possibility.

TeCHniQUeS  

Headphones – to divide, not only the audience in terms of them hearing what is being seen as separated pieces of the performance – joining the two together to create personal meaning, – but to play with the idea and distort the notion between what is fact and what is fiction.  I would also encourage this ambiguity by having a narrative that only alluded to the concept of the story.

“To contrast an invisible living, “inner” voice with its visible, “outer” manifestation” (Carroll, 1979, 56)

I could enhance the use of the headphones by having the audience switch between the two different worlds, zoning in and out of each as they wish.  In this transaction what they would establish and gain from both worlds, in terms of the meaning created, would be that of a journey with each audience member feeling and imagining, through the narrative, something different, something personal to them as to what that journey stands for in their own lives.

“Jacques Derrida described as ‘a discourse on the frame’ that places meaning on works of art and invites spectators to question the limits of art and non-art” (Govan et al, 2007, 21).

References:

Carroll, N. (1979) Amy Taubin: The Solo Self. The Drama Review, 23 (1) 51-58.

Center Theatre Group (2010) An Interview with David Cale. [online video] Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0x-P4MtfEg [Accessed 2 February 2014].

Churnin, N. (1990) Stage Review: One Man’s “Little Stories” Deliver Large Dose of Truth: David Cale Takes your Breath Away on an Unforgettable Tour Through the World of Lost Souls. [online] Los Angeles: Los Angels Times.  Available from: http://articles.latimes.com/1990-01-06/entertainment/ca-391_1_david-cale [Accessed 1 February 2014].

Giannachi, G., Kaye, N. and Shanks, M. (2012) Archaeologies of Presence. London and New York: Routledge.

Govan, E. Nicholson, H. and K. Normington (2007) Making a Performance: Devising Histories and Contemporary Practices. Oxon: Routledge.

Howell, J. (1979) Solo in Soho: The Performer Alone. Performing Arts Journal, 14 (1/2) 152-158.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre Company (2011) David Cale on ‘The History of Kisses’. [online video] Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp5lPXb_Log [Accessed 25 January 2014].

Art

1)      the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power

2)      the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and dance

3)      a skill at doing a specified thing, typically one acquired through practice

Theatrical

1)      relating to acting, actors, or the theatre

2)      exaggerated and excessively dramatic

Presence

1)      the state or fact of existing, occurring, or being present

2)      a person or thing that exists or is present in a place but is not seen (which coincidentally also highlights the idea of absence)

3)      the impressive manner or appearance of a person

Tristan Tzara: ‘All I wanted to convey was simply that my presence on stage, the sight of my face and my movements ought to satisfy people’s curiosity’ (Govan et al, 2007, 21).  This is especially important in solo performance as the audience’s gaze is instantly directed to the one person on the stage, that of the performer.

What is Theatrical? (In my opinion)

Masks, lights, red curtains, make-up, jewellery, smoke, sound, costume, magic, spectacle, grandeur –

In doing so, does this challenge our perceptions of what theatre is or should be?

Traditionalism versus the contemporary– the mechanics of the theatre hidden

To create a wonderland, a place in which to escape

Feeling is brought to our consciousness

‘Stories and picture books all filled with wonder

Magic worlds of the impossible become the everyday’ (O’Hara, 1997).

References:

Govan, E. Nicholson, H. and K. Normington (2007) Making a Performance: Devising Histories and Contemporary Practices. Oxon: Routledge.

O’Hara, P. (1997) Stories. Beauty and the Beast Soundtrack.  [CD track] Walt Disney, USA: Walt Disney Records.