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).
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. (1st ed) London: Routledge.