Author: Anthony Richard Lancashire

“Once your company has established itself, spreading the message about the great work you’re presenting becomes one of your next objectives” (Mulcahy, 2002, 101)

Refract TC Week 3 Rehearsals

Towards the end of last week we finally decided on a name for our show. Although it is far from fully finished we feel that the large amounts of experimentations and themed rehearsals over the past fortnight has generated enough material that we can carry forward and add to. Furthermore, Lincoln Performing Arts Centre have now confirmed our show date meaning Refract Theatre Company will take When You See It to the venue on Sunday 17th May. Our marketing team have been working hard to create promotional material and social media accounts to begin to form a marketing strategy and advertise the show. It stands to reason that “the more people who know about you, the more people might come to see your show” (Mulcahy, 2002, 101). It could be argued that despite all the theory and strategies the world of marketing possesses “the best advertising is really just spreading the excitement” (Mulcahy, 2002, 101).

Works Cited:
Mulcahy, L. (2002) Building the Successful Theater Company. New York: Allworth Press.

Refract TC Week 2 Reahearsals

Alison Oddey states that:

“Devised theatre can start from anything. It is determined and defined by a group of people who set up an initial framework or structure to explore and experiment with ideas, images, concepts, themes, or specific stimuli that might include music, text, objects, paintings, or movement” (1996, 1).

This is definitely the case for our company, especially in relation to images which have been our main source of stimuli. Within the framework created by our director, Laura, the work has been “generated by a group of people working in collaboration” (Oddey, 1996, 1). This means that the cast have been given more creative input than they may have had in a more text based process, which has allowed them to try out ideas and create fragments of work.

By devising we have allowed ourselves scope to create original work that is topical and reacts to society and the events within it. For us, devising:

“enables a group of performers to be physically and practically creative in the sharing and shaping of an original product that directly emanates from assembling, editing, and re-shaping individuals’ contradictory experiences of the world” (Oddey, 1996, 1).

Particularly the idea of ‘re-shaping’ is something that we are testing out in relation to the famous and personal images. As a company we want to create work that “reframes stories that consider notions of identity and communication; to explore how it has changed, how it has evolved, how it has refracted” (Refract Theatre Company, 2015).

As the stage manager, unlike a text based show, it is difficult to begin work on the technical aspects of a devised show until work moves into the development phase. Once this begins it is possible to begin drafting the book for the show and consider technical elements such as lighting and sound. In order for this to be possible it is important to manage time and create deadlines “balancing initial planning, research, and preliminary workshops against how time is scheduled for the making of the product, for rehearsal and for performance” (Oddey, 1996, 12); creating and sticking to an activity plan is essential. This week we have continued to experiment with a view to starting to develop some of the work created towards the end of next week’s rehearsals.

Works Cited:

Oddey, A. (1996) Devising Theatre: a practical and theoretical handbook. London: Routledge.

Refract Theatre Company. (2015) Manifesto [online]. Available at: https://refracttheatrecompany.dev.lincoln.ac.uk/our-manifesto.

It has been a busy first few weeks since Refract Theatre Company formed. After initial meetings to decide on what we would like to do and what roles we would like to take on within the company we began the rehearsal process. I have taken on the roles of Stage Manager and Assistant Director, with the latter in a more advisory capacity in addition to deputising for Laura in any rehearsals she is unable to make. The expected jobs of the stage manager include “provid[ing] and furnish[ing] rehearsal space … oversee[ing]  the rehearsal process … [and] run[ning] the technical rehearsal in liaison with the director” (Pallin, 2010, 16).  I will also be compiling blocking, lighting, sound and props notes as well as “cue[ing the] show during the technical rehearsal, dresses and the run” (Pallin, 2010, 16), jobs which would usually be carried out by the Deputy Stage Manager (DSM). I will also be forming a weekly rehearsal video to give you an insight into our devising process (see week 1 below).

Having chosen to devise our own work, as opposed to putting on an existing play, the rehearsals so far have included a lot of experimentation with style, genre and structure. We are looking to explore the story behind both famous and personal images and present them in an alternative light. There has been a lot of good material generated in rehearsals, the challenge now is to find a through-line to fit the fragments of work into a story that is both representative of the company ethos and entertaining and engaging for its audience.

Works Cited:

Pallin, G. (2010) Stage Management: The Essential Handbook. London: Nick Hern Books.

Refract TC Week 1 Rehearsals