Sophie Wright Site Specific Performance

So performance day has arrived, although the majority of our piece has already been completed, it’s now time to bring all the different elements together and give our final performance.

Setting the Studio.

Our experience of this project revolved around our site. The materials we found there and how this reflected both our performance and our filming. Before entering the studio we hadn’t discussed in depth what we were planning to do on the final performance day. We knew that the film would be playing and a song we had previously decided upon would be playing around the studio, creating a solemn atmosphere. However, as on so many other occasions, once we were in the room the ideas started flowing. Some were a little extravagant to do with such short notice and others were not favoured by the whole group.  In the end we decided on a mix of some of the initial ideas we had discussed a week or so before.

We had discussed having four different projections in the room, one on each wall so you were surround by the piece. This was to show how the building becomes a spectator. Although the audience would have been looking around the room at the film, as the building had encased the audience it would give an effect of watching you, from all four angles.

We wanted the audience to have an experience rather than just feel like they were watching a performance. Therefore we decided to have an installation performance.

Installation- ” Concept of installation contradicts the uninterrupted flow of a living theatre performance, the constant renewal of signs upon the stage. But it is precisely this apparently static nature that fascinates directors in their search to provoke and alter the spectators gaze.” (Pavis, 1998, pg 185)

As we already had multimedia aspects in our performance, we thought we would continue on the same design. We had one large projection of the film we had previously made, two Ipad’s were placed around the room in specific places to capture the audience’s attention, an iphone and picture stills of the original film.

Not only did we have the various types of technology placed around the room, we also incorporated gravel, which was part of our site and something we had noticed and responded to during the filming weeks before. To bring the two elements together we had the technology embedded in the gravel. We wanted the audience to think for themselves, to touch the materials we provided and to make the performance something they wanted rather than something that was forced upon them. There were no chairs in the studio, we wanted to make sure our piece was as raw in the studio as what it was at the site.

One thing we hadn’t discussed was what we, the performers, were going to do. We had got so involved with the installation we had forgotten about creating a performance amongst ourselves. One thing that was suggested was to introduce the audience to the piece and explain our ideas, however other members of the group wanted total silence. After debating what we would do, we decided to represent the building.

Located in different areas of the studio, ignoring the audience and what was going on around us, concentrating on what it would be like to see but not speak. To represent our silence we had tape over our mouths to show how the building has no choice but to stay silent while life goes on.

The experience of learning about Site Specific Performance has been an interesting and difficult process. As with any piece the ideas changed throughout the process, even on the day of the performance. Developing and improving the piece is a constant reminder that nothing is ever really complete. I first read Jen Harvie’s book within the first few weeks of starting the module and found what she had to say interesting but its only after completing the performance I am able to reflect back and understand the true meaning of her words.

“The theatre is everywhere, from entertainment districts to the fringes, from the rituals of government to the ceremony of the courtroom, from the spectacle of the sporting arena to the theatres of war. Across these many forms stretches a theatrical continuum through which cultures both assert and question themselves.”  (Harvie, 2009, pg ix)

Harvie, Jen, Thetare & the City (2009) Palgrave Macmillan:Hampshire

Names:   Shannon Turnbull. Sophie Wright. Jessica Crosby. Jessica Clubbe and Olivia Clephane.

Emails:   10182819@students.lincoln.ac.uk - 09171627@students.lincoln.ac.uk – 08162719@students.lincoln.ac.uk  - 10183923@students.lincoln.ac.uk - 10181151@students.lincoln.ac.uk

Contact phone numbers:   07714214593 - 07873204348 - 07857345570 - 07792443288 - 07595650769

Title of your project:   You will not have been here before – ‘Broken Foundations’

Please describe your proposed work in no more than 50 words

We propose to convey a building as an eroding life form. In both a literal and metaphorical sense we will embody the site through physical theatre. Secondly to show the gradual erosion we will remove our tops as if they are the layers of the building. We also plan to film our performance during the night to showcase our silhouettes as if we are one.

Tell us what you plan to do and provide a sketch of the ideas behind the work

Our idea is backed up by our interest in the erosion of buildings and how over time they have inevitably disintegrated due to the lack of care, attention and reconstruction that they require. Many years may have past before a building is even recognised and sometimes its too late to help. Erosion is also a big part of our lives as we believe the human body steadily erodes after time. Through diseases, grief and old age we get worn down, inevitably eroding each day.

By removing our t-shirts we want to portray the gradual deconstruction and death of our building by using costume to define this. Wearing black tops, we will steadily take them off to reveal a white top, conveying purity and new life.We have to deal with the constant pressure of modernisation and by making a link between the undressing of us and the erosion of buildings it shows a journey we all have to go through.

We also plan to portray the effect of the building having eyes. Some of our group will be positioned inside the building whilst others will be performing in the designated area outside. By using both the inside and outside, this will create a metaphor for the eyes watching over the city. This process will be filmed over two weeks, edited down and shown to our audience at a later date.

Tell us about your target audience and how your work will interact with them 

Our performance has no specific target audience. When the film is finally edited and shown we have an open for all policy. We are hoping that our performance is thought provoking and will connect to all members of the audience. The building will be accounted for itself and its voice will be interpreted by the audience members however they feel necessary and appropriate.

When and where do you propose to present your work? (Location, date and time)

Broken Foundations a film production, will take place on the 5th May 2012 at the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre.
The filming of the production will take place on Wednesday 28th April 2012, at the address of, 3, Lindum Road, Lincoln.

Provide a project timetable detailing key targets and actions between now and the presentation of your work. (Include Permissions, Materials, Health and Safety checks where applicable)

• 3rd March – building found, permission gained for use of the building.
• 9th March – all paperwork linked to the site completed (health and safety)
• 12th-23rd March – complete all research and plans for the site ready for filming.
• 26th-30th March – filming week (filming is arranged on the 28th)
• 16th-29th April – editing the film, adding music etc.
• 29th April – filming and editing is complete.
• 30th April-5th May – performance week of ‘You will not have been here before’

List the equipment and materials you will need to deliver your project (and how you will source them)

We will need to purchase the specific t-shirts which will be funded by ourselves. We also have access to a tripod and a camera loaned to us by the technical team at the LPAC with one volunteer to help us. Once the filming is complete and up to a good standard we shall edit it to create a film. With the help of media/film students at the University we are able to do this free of charge.

As we are filming at night we wish to use artificial light from the 3 flash lights Darren Page has loaned us. We can source these from the props cupboard but we need to make sure they are fully charged as they are battery operated. All booking forms have been completed.

Give details of your project budget (though be aware that there is no Module budget so any expenses will unfortunately, have to be borne by you alone)

• plain white t-shirts £3-5  from Primark x10 (2 each)
• CD-ROM for final footage
• all filming/editing – in kind support

Total cost = £30-50

Audience suitability: is there anything in your work we may need to make audiences aware of ? (eg. swearing, nudity, flashing lights etc)

There is nothing apparent that the audience need to be aware of in our performance. It does not contain any explicit content that the public ofLincolnneed to be concerned with. However parents and their small children are taken into account when we are filming at night as they may feel uncomfortable or frightened due to the unusual conditions. Other than that our performance is suitable and clean for public display.

Include a brief artist’s statement that describes you and your work

Still. Silent. 5 performers. One building. Imagine if a building could speak, could express its emotions and reveal its life. By showing a building as a life form and not just cold concrete, the inevitable process of erosion, both literal and metaphorical will be conveyed through our embodiment of the chosen site. Broken Foundations is a performance company that are looking at the connection between body erosion and building erosion, our aim is to provoke peoples thought process in regards to being broken and then mended, how people need to be cared for to repair from an illness or an emotional event, and how a building should be cared for and looked after so it does not succumb to erosion.

Provide any images, plans, maps or other materials that support your proposal

The image above is one example of what our idea of erosion is in the body. We felt like not only we could show this example in buildings but also in the body and the way skin can repair itself. This is evident in our idea of shedding the buildings layers to convey purity.

This is the site we will be using in our piece. We will be standing in each of the windows. The area in front of the house is our space for physical theatre.

Reckless Sleeper’s Schrodinger was performed at the LPAC last night and couldn’t have come at a better time for us. As we have only recently decided to add physical theatre to our piece seeing a professional company such as Reckless Sleepers perform such an up tempo, energetic, dynamic performance sent my mind crazy with ideas.

The way they moved their bodies around the set, in and out of small ‘windows’ and the sound effects they made with simple objects such as chalk created a state of confusion. There was so much to look at and not wanting to miss anything I was constantly looking at the whole stage. The way they used water really caught my attention. Water is a main factor in erosion of buildings, seeing how the water removed what had been created in the performance really made me think about how the layers of buildings are removed by things such as water and wind.

YouTube (2012) Online: www.youtube.com (accessed 16th March 2012)