Author: Samantha Milne

We did it! After months of researching, planning, workshop-ing, devising, singing, dancing, aching… When You See It finally made it to the LPAC stage! As I write this now, 3 days after the show, I am still finding it hard to come back down from the insane high I got from performing as Refract Theatre Company!

Leaving the stage, I felt the show went really well but the response from our audience was more than incredible. I had spent all day worrying about the physical movement, placement of props and live music whilst going over notes from previous feedbacks; we had created hype about the show and I just wanted all our hard work to shine!

I was mostly scared about the live music. Before the performance, I had never played the ukulele for an audience, making me less than confident about playing live (especially alongside performers who are able to play other instruments very well). But as soon as I was sat in front of that microphone, there was no going back.

The whole performance had a sense of ‘no going back’ as all performers were on stage for the whole show; something which I have never experienced as a performer before. Not leaving the stage for the entirety of the show meant we had to be fully engaged in all the action, a tiring experience but one which gave us no opportunity to drop character or become nervous.

I would love nothing more than to continue as Refract Theatre Company, it was an absolute honour to work with such a talented and dedicated team to create a piece which I am utterly proud of.  I have pushed myself to the extreme throughout the process of this show, especially in regards to dance and physical theatre elements (something which I NEVER thought I would be able to do, never mind enjoy!) It has been one of the most difficult yet rewarding experiences I have ever been through; a process full of memories, singing, connecting, learning and laughing. A process I would go through 100x again.

(Flipgram Video, Samantha Milne (2015)

“The designer’s skill lies in being able to understand what is required from a production and then using both technical knowledge and artistic interpretation to create a sound world that fits the show” (Leonard, 2001, 177)

I have thoroughly enjoyed my secondary role as Sound Designer in Refract for the past five months; however this experience became more intense as we got nearer to our performance date. Despite working with Laura previously, the devising process of When You See It made me realise that sound was a significant factor in the creation of devised material, directed and envisioned by Laura. For every scene created for When You See It, a piece of music would be attached to it and from there it became evident that Laura used music as a tool to structure the creative process.

As our fragmented process started becoming one solid piece, the intensity for me as Sound Designer rocketed. Many sound choices had to be changed or altered, however a very clear musical style was my savior!

The characters of Billy and Dolly were not created in a specific time or place to adhere to our ‘universal’ concept, if we did not have a musical style, finding music would have been extremely challenging.  I was able to monitor this slow, acoustic, slightly jazzy style through the creation of a playlist, where any suggestions, definite tracks or similar style music features.

This made it easier for me to find last minute music changes if needed and create the house music playlist, all which complement our chosen style for When You See It.

Works Cited

Leonard, J (2001) Theatre Sound. London: Psychology Press

To adhere to our mission of ‘depicting real stories in an alternative light’ (Refract, 2015) we had to establish a combination of fragmentation and through-lines in our practical development. Fragmentation has occurred in our practical work by focusing on a variety of past and current events to ‘shine light on the spectrum of opportunity’ (Refract, 2015). However a through-line has been an essential development in our process, to define our ethos of ‘storytelling’; a factor which an audience may appreciate and value when experiencing theatre. The through-line acts as a developing story whereas our fragments aim to ‘refract your view’; not having a through-line could make it difficult for an audience to comprehend and draw meaning to our fragmented style. I will continue to discuss this from my perceptive as an Actor and Sound Designer separately.

An Actor’s perceptive:

The introduction of Billy and Dolly’s story as a through-line allowed us as actors to establish more emotional connections to our own characters and scenes we have previously created. The sequences we had created undoubtedly worked individually but it became difficult to envision them all put together for one performance. The representation of Billy and Dolly’s relationship triggered an understanding of other scenes and characters we have previously created, showing that the through-line kick started the shape of our final piece. The developments in our practical work have continually shaped the role of the actor, despite talking about performing emotion; I would say as actors, we are far from traditional. The physical and fragmented style of our piece has developed us from actors into creators.

A Sound Designer’s perspective

Introducing Billy and Dolly’s relationship as a through-line has radically helped me to define specific moments for sound. As we have devised our piece in fragments, it has been difficult as a Sound Designer to envision a thorough sound plan and style which flows in between each sequence. The through-line finally enabled me to visualise the style of sound needed to reinforce the piece. I was set the task to create a melody as a signifier for specific Billy and Dolly moments, where I was advised by Laura to create a tune, similar to the other acoustic sounds featured in the performance in order to establish consistency. I have used my Ukulele and Harmonica with the intention to add Guitar for this task, along with researching songs, styles, noting chords down, mixing and experimenting; all in order to create melodies which could represent Billy and Dolly’s relationship without Tom and Amy even having to be on stage. The addition of the through-line allowed us to envision the first stages of a complete piece. It has allowed us to visualise the performance as a whole concept, where more creative decisions can be made more definitely.

“Refract is opening your eyes to new possibilities… Refract is shining a light and viewing the spectrum of opportunity. Refract is storytelling” (Refract, 2015)

Works Cited

Refract (2015) Refract Theatre Company Blog. [online] Available from https://refracttheatrecompany.dev.lincoln.ac.uk/ [Accessed 23 April 2015]

Tait, P (2008) ‘Bodies Perform Inner Emotions: Stanislavski’s Legacy’. Australasian Drama Studies 53, 84-102.

Last week’s research into the representation of memory led to the discovery of Greg Sand and his photography; an artist and photographer who “explores issues of existence, time and death”. Most examples of Sand’s artwork remove facial identity in order to portray the “temporarily of life” (Sand, 2015).

This example of his work is presented as an epitaph. The identity of the person in the picture is removed and replaced with a piece of text which honours the deceased person. Sand speaks about how his work is about “memory, the passage of time, mortality and the photographs role of shaping our experience of loss” (Sand, 2015)

Refract aim to portray themes of hope and loss through the representation of a human relationship in When You See It, emotions which would be evident in a universal lifetime. The way in which Sand conveys identity and existence could be used within our creating process, using texts such as epitaphs to build upon narratives and characters.

Works Cited

Sand, G. Statement, Portfolio and Bio/Resume. [online] USA: Greg Sands. Available from: http://www.gregsand.net/ [Accessed 24 March 2015]

“Memory contests the boundaries between truth and invention” (Govan, Nicholson and Normington, 2007, 82)

Narratives of Community in Making a Performance by Govan et al directly acknowledge the use of memory within enacted performances. They describe memory as a device which “illustrates how people understand and feel about their present situations.” (Govan, Nicholson and Normington, 2007, 82) Our focus is to re-tell stories in an alternative light in order to initiate “interpretations of the past [which] enable people to shape, affirm or rewrite their identities in relation with others” (Steedman, 1986, 5).

This week, Refract have focused on the painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by George Seurat (see below) by developing a narrative through movement and props. This was created based on the people painted in the foreground which initiated the formation and representation of relationships in our working process.

 “Narrative makes experience knowable, enabling individuals to recognise and relocate themselves in the context of their immediate audience and the wider community” (Govan, Nicholson and Normington, 2007, 82)

Works Cited

Goven, Emma, Helen Nicholson and Katie Normington (2007) Making A Performance- Devising Histories and Contemporary Practices. (1^st ed) London: Routledge.

Steedman, C (1986) Landscape for a Good Woman. London: Viargo Press