Depicting real stories in an alternative light, refracting your view

Devising

Anthony Richard Lancashire / March 4, 2015April 27, 2015 / Anthony L

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.

Layer By Layer

Samantha Milne / March 3, 2015May 25, 2015 / Sam M

In Making A Performance, Govan et al describes the process of devising through “drawing upon personal experiences or re-framing pre-existing material within a collectively designed structure” (Govan et al, 2007, 55). This is relevant to Refract with the use of personal and famous images in our practical rehearsals; we start with an image and develop it into material by translating it into movement/dance with the addition of sound and spoken text.

We started with an image similar to ‘The Falling Man’ from the 2001 World Trade Centre Terrorist Attacks.

Also known as ‘Jumpers Holding Hands’, the black and white image (see above) shows two unidentifiable people holding hands whilst falling from one of the towers. The image inspired themes of loss as well as strength. Based on these themes, our choreographer Tom devised a dance/movement section which was taught to Refract performers. The fluidity encompassed in the routine reflected the picture as well as imagining the image itself as moving.

Choreography. Photo: L. Spaven — Choreography. Photo: Laura Spaven (2015)

The element of sound was later introduced which evoked additional sentiment and emotion; developing atmosphere needed to encourage the movement further. We continued to develop this section through the addition of spoken text, made up of three different narratives revolving around airplanes, linking to the focus on the 2001 New York Attacks. Through a devised process, the text was not only spoken but performed through the creation of multiple paper airplanes on stage.

Carefully layering and weaving these theatrical components enhanced the work we were developing day by day. In particular, the element of sound and spoken word on top of physical movement allowed us as performers to attach emotion to the movement. From what was just an image the week before, turned into a five minute section of collaborative and original material that as Refract, we continue to work on.

Works Cited

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

Perfecting Image

Laura Spaven / March 3, 2015May 25, 2015 / Laura S, Uncategorized

With a show that primarily revolves around recreating images, a lot of attention must be paid as to exactly how these images are translated onto the stage. Whilst working on George Seurat’s painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884-1885), the cast spent a vast amount of time critiquing and readjusting one another in order to mould themselves into the perfect replications of the people within the image. Every angle of the characters body, every slight twist in direction and the proxemics between each person was considered in depth, and from these simple adjustments, new relationships were able to be explored.

When working with images that contain human beings, the cast seem to slip into character more comfortably. However, not all famous images contain people. So what happens when an ensemble must recreate an image that doesn’t depict any specific individuals? Taking into account the famous image of the Atomic Bomb that looms over Nagasaki, Japan in 1945, it is possible instead to consider the shapes found within the image. As King notes in his blog, “photographs [have] the potential to show us something that existed out there, at a certain moment, in front of the cameras lens” (2015). One extraordinary moment is sometimes caught only by the coincidental clicking of a button. As is the beauty of photography; it remains motionless and allows time for investigation. The cast are then free to find for themselves the important lines that help to identify the image and then, with the use of their bodies, work on creating the same essential shapes.

In one scene, the actors are fully focussed on building up a photograph that has already been placed within a secondary frame (see image 1). With the original image already superimposed with the informational outline commonly found in televised news broadcasts, we worked with firstly portraying the people held hostage inside the coffee shop. This was essentially, the bare minimum; just two individuals on stage. Then as the depiction of the image began to zoom out, we then stepped outside of the coffee shop and created a sense of ‘us’ and ‘them’ by placing a transparent plastic screen in front of the couple, representative of the coffee shop window. Finally, the third and final layer was added and the intended image completed, with the addition of the ‘Breaking news’ cardboard cut outs being placed in front of the transparent plastic. All of this is captured by a live camera, feeding into a television downstage stage left, effectively framing the unfolding story in the way that many people would have viewed it worldwide as it was happening.

Sydney Siege image used within the piece. (Frisk & Tucker, 2014)

This is a big game changer for us as a company. The realisation that sometimes, you have to consider how many other layers and inputs have been placed over an image before your eyes are viewing it.

And then you have to decide what you believe in, and what you don’t.

Works Cited

King, J. (2015) What is a Photograph? [blog entry] Available from http://www.aperture.org/blog/jacob-king-icps-photograph/ [Accessed 19 February 2015].

Frisk, A. & Tucker, E. (2014) Sydney siege over after police storm café; gunman, 2 hostages dead. [online] Available from: http://globalnews.ca/news/1727132/sydney-siege-over-after-polive-storm-cafe/ [Accessed 19 February 2015].

Beginning Our Journey

Stephanie Newell / March 2, 2015May 25, 2015 / Steph N

In a company of ten, we knew that it would be important for us to develop a particular way of working. For this to happen we firstly needed to understand each personality within the group and the roles that each of us would undertake. This will hopefully help us later on in our process when managing the work we create. It also separates the responsibilities of the company, providing each individual with specific jobs and giving us a basic structure for work. After sharing our past experiences and interests, it was decided that I would take on the roles of performer and prop manager.

As a new and upcoming theatre company we are right at the beginning of our journey, ready to create and piece together our first ever piece of theatre as a collective group. Choosing roles was our first task and once that was sorted, we faced our first real challenge of deciding on the topic for the piece: “Devising begins with the interaction between the members of the group and the starting point or the stimulus chosen” (Oddey, 1994, 24.) What should this performance be about and what should it convey? What do we have to say and what do we want to say? All of our current discussions have revolved around finding this stimulus and a purpose for making theatre. There have been many ideas thrown around but we wanted something specific, we needed to narrow it down so we would lessen the chances of over loading ourselves with a thousand puzzle pieces that did not fit together.

“Choice is a key word when devising theatre” (Oddey, 1994, 26.) Everything we will do within this piece will come down to choice. We need the discipline to decide, to be confident and comfortable to share opinions so that we are creating the piece of theatre we want to make. The stimulus we have decided on is photographs, images of intrigue, iconic images that are known globally. We hope to bring the still image to life, give a voice and a story to the people in the photographs and bring them to a personal level.

Works Cited –

Oddey, A. (1994). Devising theatre. London: Routledge

The Bigger Picture

Samantha Milne / March 1, 2015May 25, 2015 / Sam M

Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth – Marcus Aurelius

The inclusion of photos and images in our rehearsals has become the main stimulus in Refract’s creative process so far. Adhering to our mission statement, we are using them to ‘depict real stories in an alternative light’ by exploring the image for not just what it is but also, what it is not. This led to the concept of how one picture can tell a thousand words by viewing it from different perspectives. To explore this further, Laura and Anthony (Refract directors) have led multiple activities using both famous and personal images to develop and build material.

A session led by Laura explored various perspectives of famous images; as performers of the company, we were asked to bring in two famous images each. From Banksy’s artwork to photographers of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami (see images above), these images were then used by passing them around in a circle whilst being asked various questions about the image we were holding. The questions were based on a person/or object that we identified in each image, ranging from ‘how old is the person in the photo?’ to ‘what was this person doing yesterday?’. By the end of the activity each image had a new story; one perspective made up of five other perspectives. Exercises as such these have allowed us to stretch “the limits of established practices and reshap[e] [our] creative processes” (Goven, Nicholson and Normington, 2007, 3).

Academy Awards 2015 sparked ideas about how we could portray the concept of ‘what’s not there’ effectively on stage:

A section from the opening of the 2015 Academy Awards, hosted by actor/performer Neil Patrick Harris (NPH) highlighted how projection can be used manipulate the body and the stage visually. NPH performs a live stylised routine, in sync with a projected shadow of himself, using props that he does not have on stage (see images below).

nph2

This concept establishes a unique form of presentation which inspired thoughts about how we could explore this in our devised process; in connection to what an image is/what it is not but more importantly, what it could be.

Works Cited

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