This week we have been working towards a work in progress session with a fellow emerging theatre company, Forefront. We have been primarily working on developing and polishing three scenes all inspired by famous images but depicted “in and alternative light” (Refract, 2015). The inspirations for the more established two are found below:
The Falling Man
Since 11th September 2001, when the World Trade Centre was attacked by terrorist group al-Quaeda resulting in the death of around 3,000 people, ‘The Falling Man’ has been one of the world’s most iconic images. The image displays a man “hurtling through the air” (Junod, 2003). It could be said that “If he were not falling, he might very well be flying” (Junod, 2003). The image divides opinion with “Some people who look at the picture see[ing] stoicism, willpower, a portrait of resignation; others see something else – something discordant and therefore terrible: freedom.” (Junod, 2003). The cast of the company were presented with an enlarged picture of the man falling to devise work from. The work created has been very physical and focusing on the relationship between the two falling people, aiming to look at the image differently.
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte
Georges Seurat’s 1984 painting ‘A Sunday on La Grande Jatte’ depicts “people relaxing in a suburban park on an island in the Seine River called La Grande Jatte” (Artic, 2015). It uses the technique of pointillism in which a multitude of small dots “appear as solid and luminous … when seen from a distance” (Artic, 2015). In our interpretation we have attempted to recreate the image on a smaller scale with each actor picking a character. This is then scored by a track played on a ukulele with physical and prop based stylized choreography inspired by items in the paining. The scene plays with the potential relationships between the characters seen in the paining and could act as light relief after one of our more serious scenes.
Works Cited:
Artic. (2015) A Sunday on La Grande Jatte – 1884. [online] Available at: http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/27992 (accessed 21/03/15).
Junod, T. (2003) The Falling Man. [online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2003/sep/07/featuresreview.review1 (accessed 21/03/15).
Refract Theatre Company. (2015) Manifesto. [online] Available at: https://refracttheatrecompany.dev.lincoln.ac.uk/our-manifesto (accessed 21/03/15).