Author: Thomas Hitchen

And with the lights fading and the flute playing, the show was over. After months of exciting, enjoyable, challenging rehearsals our debut show was performed at the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre. A sense of adrenaline and excitement had filled the air. Not only were we extremely proud of what we had created as a company, but we were opening the week long festival of Theatre Company shows; with this comes an expectation to deliver an outstanding performance.

Upon reflection, and the feedback that we received, I truly believe we delivered. The show we devised was funny, tender, moving, visually inspiring, collaborative, inventive and original. It has been such a rewarding experience to see this company, including myself, develop and grow as a group, as individuals and as ten graduating students. Throughout the past 5 months I have learnt and experienced so much and my view on what theatre is and what theatre should be has drastically shifted; that is, theatre does not have to appeal to the masses, it does not have to include everything you have your heart set on, it can change, adapt. Some of the moments we created on stage came from workshops, pieces of text, sound bites for example. These moments were developed into beautiful, visually impressive scenes for the stage. Thus, the devising process is inherent to establishing a well rounded performance which demonstrates a clear message for your audience. And with that it is worth taking a quick look at how our company functioned and the roles we embodied.

It is best to match each member of your ensemble with the nonperforming roles for which he or she is best suited. No one in the company has the luxury of simply acting; in order for the company to survive, much less thrive, each must perform other duties as well.

(Nelson, 2010, 103)

Our company gelled like glue. Everyone knew their place and what they were expected to achieve at a specific time and place. I had three roles throughout this journey and I wish I had more time (and words!) to write about each because they were all challenging in their own right. My role as Marketing Manager thrust me into some unknown territory. As a very customer focused person due to my role as a Team Leader in retail, I thought this role would suit me in terms of connecting with the audience, engaging with them and creating a buzz throughout our company. The design elements, however, proved more difficult. I created all of the externally facing materials with help from friends studying Architecture and Graphic Design. This experience has been such a learning curve and I can now use all the Adobe programs with ease and efficiency; something, I am sure will come in handy post graduation.

Alongside this major leadership role, I also performed. Performing in this show has been incredible. I think this collaborative group of individuals have pushed each other into discovering more about themselves as performers and even though Amy and I acted as the through-line there was no major principle characters; everyone was as much a part of the ensemble as each other. And I think it is this ethic of working, devising and performing that establishes our style and the type of work we produce.

As my third role for Refract, I acted as the company resident choreographer. From the ‘Falling Couple’ (9/11) contemporary routine to the gentle Waltz sequence to the reminiscent tap ‘Swansong’, I devised segments throughout the show which connected stimulus to our narrative and theme. As our piece flowed smoothly from one section to another, there were no clear ‘dance breaks’. As such, my role as choreographer was to work closely with our director in establishing a performance style, both aesthetically and in workshops; to act as a facilitator of the more advanced movement sections. I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with Laura, and using images as stimulus has been eye-opening for my choreographic practice; it’s not always what it seems, its how much you can see, but most importantly, its When You See It.

Goodbye, thanks for playing.

Works Cited

Crow, P. (2015)

Nelson, R. (2010) How to Start Your Own Theatre Company. Chicago: Chicago Review Press Inc.

Managing the marketing of our theatre company has been a challenging yet rewarding experience. It has highlighted just how difficult it is for new, emerging work and companies to connect with their audience. The way I approached this was to not succumb to the worry of having every seat sold out but, instead, go into the city – our community – and have fun with residents and tourists.

Recently, I fashioned an over-sized polaroid frame which Yasmin and I took into the city to use as a discussion point between ourselves and our potential audience members. The polaroid worked. Not only did this frame act as a discussion point, it was completely in-keeping with our brand, directly linked to the show and it was used for these people to have their photo taken in. This kind of ‘customer’/audience based approach allowed us to quickly engage with our community, as well as share any information or answer any questions that were not available on any of our other external materials. In addition, this acted as a way to build and form relationships with businesses and organisations across the city; as an arts organisation ourselves these relationships are fundamental to the success of a company. Quoting her own book, Ruth Rentschler et al tell us, “Relationship marketing in the arts is defined as having ‘the dual focus of catching and keeping customers and developing long-term relationships between organisations'” (2001, 124). If our company were to continue, it is evident that we have already started to build a client base; that is, groups of people that will recognise our company and what we represent.

Please see photos below.

We would like to thank all the businesses and people we spoke to: House of Cards, Little Red Gallery, Tourist Information Centre, Debutante, Critters Pet Store, Forefront Theatre Company, Topshop, Topman, H&M, Odeon, Student’s Union, Zing Cafe Bar, Lincoln Performing Arts Centre Staff.

Works Cited

Rentschler, R., Radbourne, J., Carr, R. and Rickard, J. (2001) Relationship Marketing, Audience Retention and Performing Arts Organisation Viability. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 7 (2) 118-130.

As the final month of rehearsals is upon us, it seems appropriate to reflect upon our marketing strategies thus far and to consider new and interesting ways to identify and engage with our audience. Elizabeth Hill et al tell us, “For most artists the audience is an integral part of an artistic experience. Only when the public experiences what the artist wishes to communicate is the creative process complete” (2012, 36). Throughout my marketing campaigns the audience has been an “integral” part of the process; strategically planning, organising and deploying skills and materials.

In adopting the typical “bums on seats” approach, the campaigns that I have established take inspiration from current creative marketing tools, including regional, national and international schemes. To have a cohesive brand identity has always been of utmost importance; for the audience to recognise our brand and form an association with Refract through our print materials and digital usage.

However, it is essential that there is a face behind the keyboard, and behind  the flyer. To this end, and alongside our Producer, Refract took to the city streets. In establishing a physical presence we allowed our community, our audience, to meet us and ask any questions about our forthcoming show. As a new company, these kind of opportunities are essential to achieving a strong audience relationship, as well as encouraging the public to engage with our creative process. The busking day, organised through Lincoln BIG was a success. The success is three-fold:

-The public seemed interested in our show, and by providing music for them to listen and watch, it gave us the opportunity to not seem forceful or overpowering, but inviting and approachable.

-The use of live music gave a hint of our show, with the idea of acoustic sounds being quite prominent in our piece. Also, it introduced the cast, highlighting the talents and skill sets that they might encounter during the show.

-And finally, the event also doubled up as a fundraising event, with a total calculated at £55. These funds will provide extra opportunities for our company, adding to our existing budget.

Please see the slideshow of busking photos below.

 

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Works Cited

Hill, E., O’Sullivan, T. and O’Sullivan, C. (2003) Creative Arts Marketing. 2nd Edition. London: Routledge.

Your power as a theater will reside with people – not just those within your organization but also those in your community (Nelson, 2010, 109)

The past two weeks have seen Refract Theatre Company perform to an audience; firstly, to our tutor and secondly to our peers. The work-in-progress’ have been invaluable to our company in terms of furthering ideas, understanding where to develop and learning to operate with the critical feedback. All of these are important for our progress and the continued exploration of both topic and stimuli.

On the other hand, giving feedback is also a very good way to comment on and reflect with another group who are sharing the same journey. In my opinion, constructive discussion and criticism encourages work to move beyond your own insights of what it should be and look like and allow you to craft and engage with the potential of the piece thus far.

These sessions prove vital to me as Marketing Manager in terms of reflecting the shows content within any externally facing materials and show/ brochure copy. The aim being to translate the dynamic performance and style of When You See It into print, and with the support of audience members reflection, hopefully this will be achieved.

Works Cited

Nelson, R. (2010) How to Start Your Own Theater Company. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, Incorporated.

An integral part of our work ethic is establishing narrative and theme through movement and dance. As such, this notion has established the strong collaboration that must exist between director and choreographer. As a creative partnership, Laura and I decided that the ‘Falling’ image (see below) taken at the 9/11 terrorist attacks would be shown through a collection of dance and movement sequences.

I believe that movement and phrasing should stem from an improvisational approach. With this in mind, I asked the company to take the image and utilize the patterns and shapes evident in the photograph, as well as take pre-existing moves from earlier workshops.  Louppe tells us, “Improvisation is, like composition, an indispensable element of contemporary dance” (2010, 160). An important part of being choreographer is to notice the relationships and dynamics forged in these type of sessions, and to recognize that ideas and phrases can be discovered when the whole ensemble is involved in the devising process.

“[A] characteristic of creativity in contemporary choreography cognition is that the dancers and choreographer increasingly work together exploring, selecting, and developing dance material” (McKechnie and Stevens, 2009, 40). Therefore, even though I had final say as choreographer, the artistic process of developing and crafting material comes from the b0dies of your performers and their ideas being put into practice. Initially, I saw the image as a group routine. The routine would capture the emotions, fear and trauma of that fateful day, and I would use the image to explore those situations. The four main factors I considered were:

• Reach
• Connections
• Tilt
• Gravity (pulling/pushing down)

 

In this sense, the dance sequence would highlight this specific image, but, it would also connect and reaffirm the recurring motif of relationships and physical connections. Louppe says, “It is the dancer who reveals the powerful source of the imaginary” (2010, 55). Therefore, to evoke the sense of loss and empathy, as a group we had to work closely with intention and focus; if we could see the plane coming towards us, or embody the sense of falling, the audience would hopefully see and feel this too. It was in our hands to recreate the amalgamation of thoughts and feelings present in that drastic situation. The movements came quite naturally: reaching forward, tilting, stumbling, leaning. My inspiration came from existing work such as Freedom (2013) by Jasmin Vardimon and commercial choreographer, Mia Michaels. The latter works heavily with choreographing loss and empathy.

The visual impact of this photograph extended to create an entire stage picture. After one company member likened the falling pair to Peter Pan and his shadow, I worked closely with Mark and Morgan to develop a Pas de Deux to express and explore this notion. Did this pair know each other? Or, did they just hold hands and jump? As much as this duet exemplified the idea of falling, the routine also suggested a feeling of euphoria and freedom; the vocation to address and reminisce of people being together in horrific situations, of couples and relationships shining through from the darkness.  “The power of movement and dance to evoke memories has been identified as an important factor in communication” (McKechnie and Stevens, 2009, 45). Although this dance expressed what I believed to be contained in that image, the movement can also transcend this inception and comment on other disasters; global or personal.

Please see ‘Choreographic Notes’ under Documents > Technical > Choreography, or click here.

Please see Gallery for more rehearsal photos, or click here.

Works Cited

Figure 1. The Death Posture (2013) [Photograph] At: http://timeconsumerrr.tumblr.com/ [Accessed 6 March 2015].

Louppe, L. (2010) Poetics of Contemporary Dance. Translated by Sally Gardner. Hampshire: Dance Books Ltd.

McKechnie, S. and Stevens, C. J. (2009) Visible Thought: Choreographic Cognition in Creating, Performing, and Watching Contemporary Dance. In: Jo Butterworth and Liesbeth Wildschut (ed.) Contemporary Choreography: A Critical Reader. Oxon: Routledge, 38-51.

Michaels, M. (2015) So You Think You Can Dance Photography [online] Available from: http://miamichaels.com/photo/so-you-think-you-can-dance/ [Accessed 10 April 2015]