April 2015 – Page 2

April 17, 2015Hannah Kate Thorpe No Comments

Pintrest.

Our theatre company loves to share. We love to keep our audiences updated of our process that is leading us to our next performance. One way that us designers like to share our ideas is through Pintrest. It gives us a chance to compile our ideas, set costume and lighting related, “Pinterest is a virtual pin board incorporated within a social network, think of it as a digital scrapbooking.”(Lake, 2015)

Our first board is Props. This is a place where I can gather ideas of what objects I want to fill the ‘memory boxes’ onstage. Though the technical side is reflecting the scientific side of this condition our production focuses on how relationships are tested when one partner suffers from memory loss. I want the props to reflect objects that could be seen as significant in people’s relationships. This then combines both the scientific and the emotive.

On Pintrest the company has “the freedom to display their work using their creativity, personal style and personality creating fantastic portfolios that can be seen and shared by other Pinterest users.” (Lake, 2015) This allows our audiences to check out our work, and hopefully become more and more interested in our production as we update through the weeks.

(Pintrest, 2015)

The next board I am in charge of is Set. Here I can ‘pin’ ideas of what I want the boxes I mentioned in my last blog, to look like and decide on material, having Pintrest I can collect different images of each and then presenting back to the company to get their opinions, as we work as a collaborative company I value their creative input. The idea is that the set, props and lighting show the science side of memory loss, the boxes, linked by red ribbon, represent the proteins in the brain which are elements that connect and form memories. Shownbelow are referance images for the types of boxes I may want onstage.

(Pintrest)

Though most of these are wall mounted, these images are just an idea of the shape and colour of each box onstage. The colour scheme being either perspex or white, giving off a clinical atmosphere.

Keep updated on our blog on Pintrest!

Hannah.

Works Cited:

Lake, L. (2015) Pintrest Offers Marketing Benifits to the Small Business. [online] Available From:

http://marketing.about.com/od/socialmediamarketing/a/Pinterest-Offers-Marketing-Benefits-To-The-Small-Business.htm

Aronson, A. P (1990) American Set Design. New York; Theatre Communications

Fill In The Blank Theatre (2015) Pintrest. [online] Available at https://uk.pinterest.com/fill0128/

April 16, 2015Katherine Alice Copley No Comments

Doctors, duets and ribbons.

So, in these past two weeks we have been working hard and really building up content for the show. In one of our workshops our task as small groups was to look over sources and see how we could develop them into scenes. The text we were given was a story about a couple, one of whom had encephalitis, the disease I talked about in my last blog post. We took this opportunity to work on a scene that emphasised the confusion of the sufferer, for our piece this would be ‘the man’, played by Michael C. The piece we conceptualised in this workshop became known as the time lapse scene. Our aim for the scene was to incorporate all of the performers and have them making contact with ‘the man’ which would trigger him into a number of movements. It was difficult for us to physicalise it fully because there were only three of us but we planned for some basic movements such as Hannah pushing Michael’s head and him falling back. The point is that he is not in control of his own actions. We envisioned the scene to incorporate lifts, as some of the feedback we had from our other material was that it was a bit flat and still, and to be very busy and chaotic, like an organised mess.

In another scene we have developed I am playing the doctor describing the disease, encephalitis. This is the text that I wrote a few weeks ago and it’s finally being integrated into a scene! The layout of the scene is that Michael C. and Alice D. will perform a duet as husband and wife, showing them receiving his diagnosis. Their movements will represent their relationship and the support they have for each other as well as the fear they now both have. My text is read over the movement, and eventually Naomi comes in to take over as the wife to introduce music to the scene. At this stage the idea is that Naomi will start to play the piano and Michael will action the man’s confusion at the words but clarity at the music. I’ve really enjoyed developing this scene because I feel like my strength as a performer is in delivering speech rather than in movement so I definitely feel more comfortable in this scene.

On a very different note we have also developed a ribbon sequence this week. This scene is to represent connections in the brain and how memories are made. Michael W. showed us a video that explained how proteins in the brain are formed when memories are made and how every time you remember something it’s slightly different from the last time you remembered it. We looked at studies into witness of the 9/11 tragedy and how their eye witness accounts from hours after the event, and months after, were significantly different. We wanted the ribbon sequence to show how the connections in the brain can get confused by using ribbons as the connections and physically making them tangle up with us inside. The piece was challenging to choreograph because Rachel needed to be able to see it to advise us on where to go or what we did that looked nice as opposed to what didn’t, but we also couldn’t make anything definite without Rachel performing with us because we needed to have enough connections. Originally we tried the scene with Michael in the centre of us but it just looked messy and like we had just put him there without a purpose, so Michael W. decided that we should just carry on without ‘the man’. Eventually I think we’ve made a very aesthetic piece but it’s going to take a few more rehearsals before it’s ready for the stage!

April 16, 2015Michael Cahill No Comments

Progress!

The show is really starting to take shape! Each rehearsal I am creating new ideas for the lighting design to reflect each scene and we are now experimenting with projecting onto our bodies in the studios. My job as LD can be somewhat difficult at times as there is often no script to use as a basis for my lighting plans as movement often dominates the play. I did not want the lighting to overshadow the performers’ movement as we produced a highly physical performance. However, certain scenes required more complex lighting states than others. For example, we made a scene with ribbons in which the performers were moving rapidly across the stage to symbolise the fragmented memories that exist in The Man’s brain. As LD, I chose to use strobe lighting to provide both a visually interesting effect and to symbolise the strain that encephalitis has on the brain. However, one thing that I wanted to stray away from as LD was using complex lighting states ‘for the sake of it’ as ‘mood can be subtle or crashingly [sic] obvious’ (Fraser, 2002, 82). Other scenes required more subtle but effective lighting changes. By simply altering the intensity of a single light, the atmosphere is instantly changed. The creation of shadow speaks volumes in itself, particularly during the scene where The Wife is seen to be leaving her husband. I wanted everything to have a meaning behind it; to make sense visually and to the narrative of the piece.

When creating a scene to show the confusion of an encephalitis sufferer, I suggested that we use a Time Lapse projection to create a sense of distortion and confusion. Projecting a fast-moving image of a motorway onto the bodies of the performers created a perfect atmosphere of loss and confusion in the studio – I can’t wait to see what it will look like on the stage! As LD, I am experimenting with the use of colour, using red and blue gels to distinguish the different emotions of scenes. Kirsty and I perform a duet in the piece in which we physicalize the strain that the illness has on the couple’s relationship. I chose to have a blue wash with a 2 minute 13 second fade down to a very dim light on level 10%. Whilst this was technically a fairly simplistic lighting decision, I found it was very effective in delivering the aim of the scene. Coupled with movement, the lighting reflects the dimming of their relationship due to an illness that essentially took over their lives and The Man’s memories.

Ultimately, ‘the soul of lighting design rests not in technical design, rest not in technical considerations but in creating a form in light which is in harmony with the conceptions governing the entire production’ (Palmer, 1967, 142). I therefore ensured that any lighting decisions were reflective of the piece as a whole.

Works Cited:

Fraser, N. (2002) Stage Lighting Explained. Wiltshire: The Crowood Press Limited.

Palmer, R. (1967) Style in Lighting Design. Educational Theatre Journal. 19(2), 142-148.

April 11, 2015Michael Aiden Woodhall No Comments

Finding our stone . . .

Over the past few weeks, our show has gone on quite a dramatic journey and has developed into something I wouldn’t have expected when we first started out. Our original concept was based on ‘Bucket Lists’ – we wanted to speak to the public with the aim of exploring what people find most important at various stages of life. Whilst our show was still in research and development stages, our focus began to shift more towards the themes of memories and regrets as opposed to goals and ambitions.

During my research on memories, I came across this video which fascinated me.

The video essentially describes a pill, on the verge of being released, which can erase the fear we hold to our more unhappy memories. I thought it would be interesting to consider how we would function if our bad memories could be erased by taking this pill. Would we learn from our mistakes? How would we feel if we kept our bad memories but were able to associate it with something much happier? How could this effect the way we feel emotions? And although this pill is essentially for people suffering with PTSD, depression and anxiety, how long would it be until this is a prescribed drug for something less serious? These were all questions I thought would be useful to explore in our workshops. This inspired the company and we were set on having it influence the show but we still hadn’t found our central idea; we were still in search for our stone!

So we went out and had conversations with many members of the public; we visited a youth theatre, met with peers on the University campus and asked people on the high street about their ambitions, memories and regrets as well as their opinions on the pill itself. After receiving a variety of responses, it was encouraging to know that people were interested in the topic of memories and wanted to know more about the pill, however we still hadn’t found a story strong enough to be carried through the entire show.

I then began reading some more philosophical writings about memory and came across Oliver Sacks’ book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1986). In this book I discovered many stories of patients who had suffered from damage or an illness affecting the brain essentially leaving them with no or little memory – ‘I have no memory of the present. I do not know what I have just done or from where I have just come . . . I can recall my past very well, but I have no memory of the present.’ (Sacks, 1986, p. 33) These stories seemed to link everything we had been discussing about memories and regrets but now I saw the possibility of a narrative. Additionally, I thought it would be interesting to think of these real-life accounts in relation to the pill; people who choose to have their bad memories removed against individuals who have no choice in their memory loss at all. What I also found fascinating about these stories was that many of the patients suffering from amnesia who were talented musicians, still had the ability to remember how to play music, something which I discovered further in Oliver Sacks’ book Musicophillia, ‘Remembering music, listening to it, or playing it, is entirely in the present.’ (2011, p. 228) It seemed fitting to incorporate live music into our piece and we have recently been playing around with the piano in rehearsals; this has influenced some of our physical work too!

(Alice Dale, 2015)

Along with music, many of these cases have involved these men remembering their relationships with their wives but because of the illness, the extent of what they remember is minimal. The strength, compassion and love that these wives show is something that I am passionate about portraying in our piece as well as the struggles that these couples face. This has given me the idea to tell much of the story through the viewpoint of a wife, a supporter and an unconditional partner. I have cast a different female performer as The Wife for each scene we do to represent different points in The Man’s life as well as showing that this story is not about one couple in particular, it is inspired by many.

I am incredibly excited to develop the relationship/story between The Man and The Wife and to learn more about the connections in the brain and the science behind amnesia.

Works Cited

Sacks, O. (1986) The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. London: Picador.

Sacks, O. (2011) Musicophillia. London: Picador.

April 6, 2015Alice Saxton No Comments

The Creative Eye!

Although traditionally the stage manager has little to no creative input in the development of the piece, my company have allowed myself and our producer Verity to become a form of dramaturg! As we are always on the outside of the devising process looking in, it is much easier for us to notice if ideas aren’t quite working, or need something new. In the last few rehearsals we have been looking at our Music and Science scene, in which we combine the science of memory loss with the art of music. Encephalitis sufferers may not be able to remember anything short term, but, as the disease does not typically affect this side of the brain, they can remember art subjects, such as music. Our central male character, although suffering from memory loss as quick as 7seconds, can still remember how to play the piano with his wife, and thus we want this scene to explore how that effects the way in which the couple communicate and deal with the illness: ‘The person you knew, or who was you, may have changed and the person they have become, or you have become, may present with a number of problems’ (Encephalitis Society, 2015). As the focus of the scene was the man remembering how to play the piano, I found that the choreography needed to be centred around his hands; Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett suggest in The Frantic Assembly Book of Devising that ‘what is important is the process behind the genesis of the choreography, not the choreography itself’ (Graham and Hoggett, 2014, 122). Thus I asked the actor and choreographer to explore the idea of the man trying to listen to and understand the science behind his illness, but whilst he is being pulled towards the piano by his hands. Having explored this concept for choreography, myself and the producer then created a video that would compliment this idea, with images of the man scribbling out the scientific words in a notepad and instead writing music.

Works Cited

Encephalitis Society (2015) Recovery and Rehabilitation. [online] Available from: http://www.encephalitis.info/information/recovery-and-rehab/ [Accessed 26 March 2015]

Graham, S. and Hoggett, S. (2014) Frantic Assembly Book of Devising. Oxon: Routledge.

Crowe, P. (2015) [image] Available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/61839232@N02/17277714474/in/album-72157653093111156/