I will be looking out for shows that I could watch/research and bear resemblances to to my idea. If possible I'll try and speak to the creators and hopefully get lots of information regrading the production. Possible. 26/11/2021 I went to the Riverfront theatre to watch a theatre piece called ‘Possible’. The piece was pitched as a storytelling masterclass with live music. I figured it sounded very close to my medium and therefore wanted to investigate! First impressions were great. The staging was lovely and there was a lot of tech/music kit. The musician stepped on followed by the lead actor. The actor opened the show talking directly to the audience, he rather awkwardly asked people in the front row what they were talking about. Very much like a school teacher saying ‘is it something you want to share with the whole class?’. I’m not sure why he did it, it felt unnessecary as it was literally the first thing he did. It made me feel awkward and … honestly, dislike him. Was that the point? He then noticed one of the ushers walking to her seat and asked her what she was doing, I don’t think he realised she was an usher and again it just made things weird. To me it felt like he was trying to give the impression of a stand up comic and challenging rude hecklers, but nobody heckled and it was just…. weird. Anyway, he started to inform us that he was commissioned to write a story about love by the Arts Council of Wales, but the pandemic hit and so this is the new end product. I’m not sure why he felt the need to tell us this information and in such an informal way. Maybe I was just feeling put off by his confrontational start. The story was OK overall. It was about him moving house and his mother getting more and more forgetful - a real trigger for me at this moment, but it wasn’t enough for me to feel emotionally involved with his tale. There are a few moments when we step back and watch a video or watch the musician perform a song. I have to say, the music was brilliant. But it didn’t really feel like it was part of the same show… Its hard to summarise, but it just felt a little disjointed. Overall I was a bit disappointed. I didn’t feel moved or touched by the story, I didn’t think it was funny or sad.. it was a bit bland. I feel bad saying these things as I know a lot of work went into it, but part of the story was how he was supposed to be writing a story. Every now and then he would get a phone call from the arts council and he’d have to explain that he was doing the work. And so the final product felt like it was a forced piece of work because he’d been paid to create something. Oh I feel like a right bitch. It’s still good to know that the musician and the storyteller were separate people, making my show that little bit different - enough to stand out to any funders perhaps? Fly Half. 12/11/2021 I noticed that there was a theatre piece coming up at the riverfront called fly half, the title interested me a little as I am a fan of rugby so read about it. Turns out it is a 2 man play, one tells a story whilst the other every now and then plays guitar and sings a song in relation to that part of the story. Jackpot - This will be brilliant research for me. I asked nicely to be given a tech shift on that day and luckily it happened. I’d be working the lighting for the performance, luckily it was a really easy show to light. Simply bring the lights up at the beginning and then dim them off at the end. As a technician, I need to be there early to greet the visiting company when they arrive - a good opportunity to discuss my show and ask for advice. The two men were Gary Lagdon who wrote and told the story and Gareth Moulten who composed the songs. They were both very friendly and we were set up in no time. The play had been performed in many different venues, but mostly in rugby clubs and small clubs, so the theatre was always something they looked forward to. From a tech perspective, It was the easiest job I’ve ever done. Gareth the musician set up his own little amp and vocal mic and they needed a chair each. That was it… perfect! I started a discussion by asking whether they wrote the songs together, and we all three had a really good chat. We spoke about the process of writing, the relationship between story and song and even a touch of authenticity. All three of us really clicked, and I felt they valued my opinions and thoughts regarding authenticity and performance. Soon enough the time came to perform. The staging was so simple and it really didn’t matter because the content was so damn good. The story was fictional and simply a monologue about his family’s relationship with the sport of rugby. His rugby playing days and some of the funny characters, then his sons rugby career all with sprinklings of songs, which lyrically linked and emphasised the story. After the show, I went backstage to tell the guys how much I enjoyed it. We had another good chat and Gary the writer asked when I though of the ending. I explained that as I was working on lights, I was every now and then interrupted by the tech team on the radio, so I missed parts of the dialogue. He laughed and said it was a good excuse! I insisted that i did genuinely enjoy it and he handed me a signed copy of the script - very touching. I read it over a few times when I got home and then messaged him on twitter as to my interpretation of the ending. He said I got it right which felt good. What I gained from this experience was the knowledge that the setting/staging/effects don’t need to be anything fancy as long as the story/content is captivating enough. I was also chatting with the writer about ‘acting’. Gary is a lecturer as RADA and we spoke about how I don’t ‘act’ on stage because I haven’t a script, I’m just telling a story rather than acting it out (as he did). But there is a really blurred line for my show, because I do act. I act in the same way a stand up comedian would, rather than an actor in a play. Its something worth exploring further, and it falls nicely into the authenticity conversation too. The Tigerface Show 22/10/2021 So this is show written and developed through arts council (and others) by a Newport based writer/performer called Justin Teddy Cliffe. I’ve met Justin a handful of times at the Riverfront, mostly because I was his technician for the day. He used to run TinShed Theatre Company so thats what I’d worked with him mostly on. I’ve always wanted to sit down with him for a chat for I feel we are quite like minded, and his writing (I am told) is often comical. I’d never seen a piece of Justin’s work before as I usually work with him through TinShed for their youth projects, so It would be lots of children acting and he would direct. So I thought it would be really good to go and see his work. I tried booking a ticked online but the system didn’t seem to be working and the box office wasn’t answering the calls. So I just got in the car a drove down. I get free parking because I know a guy that knows a guy at the theatre. I walked in and asked for a ticket but they said it had sold out. So I felt stupid, plus slightly annoyed that the website and phones didn’t inform me of this. But who cares, I’m here now. So this is when I bump into Victoria who was the Stage Manager for one of the shows I had previously worked on and I mentioned that it was sold out and she invited me to just watch the show sat next to her - Win! So thats what I did. I sat next to Victoria and Cara (Light designer). I had a quick catch up with them both as we’ve all worked together before and before I knew it the play started. The piece was called Tigerface and all I knew about it was that Justin will be wearing a tiger onesie and its kind of like a kids TV show. Before the show begins though, a ‘dream fairy’ walks around and asks members of the audience to write down what they wanted to be when they were younger and then collects all of the paper - it becomes clear what that is for later. For the first big chunk of the show, the tiger doesn’t say anything and just plonks around his island with a narrator describing things. But gradually things go a little wrong - the parrot isn’t talking or the alligator gets his lines wrong - this represents how things unfold in life and not always the way you want. You cant be in control of everyone and everything else. Eventually Tiger unravels and the actor playing tiger breaks the 4th wall. He goes on a very long rant about how childhood dreams never become a reality. He asks members of the audience what they wanted to be as kids. “An astronaut!” Replies the man. The tiger enthusiastically draws a picture of this man in a space costumes, talking excitedly about the training, the pride, the smarts, the adventure of the job. “And did you become an astronaut Phil?”… silence. “No.” “Of course you fucking didn’t!” The tiger screams as he crosses out the drawing with a big black marker pen. The finale of the show sees tiger face pick out someone from the audience who had earlier written on the paper for the cloud fairy and they take her backstage for 5 minutes while tiger face stalls. They then reveal the audience member who is now dressed up in a very DIY/crafty uniform and say that for tonight only her childhood dream has come true about being a marine biologist. They bow together and thats the end. What I got from this piece was how unpredictable but also hilarious audience interaction can be. I realised that as an audience member, you expect to be entertained or at least be kept engrossed by the performer. And as a performer that is a lot of pressure, especially if (like me) you are trying new material and aren't sure what medium/venue/audience, you are looking for. BUT with audience interaction, the gloves are off! The audience seem to get on your side automatically because in theatre it is very impolite to talk/interact, so when the person on stage gives you permission to speak out regardless of the confidence of the person speaking, the rest of the audience have a general feeling of uneasiness and take the side of the performer. Or am I overthinking that? Perhaps I haven’t worded that as well as I would have liked, but I think you get the gist. Basically, the unpredictability of including random strangers into your performance gets the audience on your side. Right?
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