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Here we are, the end is near, and we present, our final case study! 

The Silenced Disco - A experiential piece of theatre, concerned with attempting to portray the concept of appropriation and erasure of black culture through the medium of music (specifically the song Blue Moon).  

We, of course, then discussed the roots of our ideas and intentions with this performance and the use of an auditory vehicle.

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A combined discussion of our initial thoughts about Seiriol Davies’ How To Win Against History - an interesting satire of the musical theatre genre and representations of LGBTQ+ role models, be them objectively good or bad! 

We then discuss our impressions and musings over our performing at the Tate Modern, how it differed from South Street and our personal experience of this amazing opportunity.

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A de-brief style discussion about our work with a practising ensemble theatre company called Redcap, what we took away from our collaboration with them and reflections on watching a professional company work.

We discussed our own contributions as individuals to the overall project (being that all three ensembles within the module worked together as a whole for this project, unlike previous assignments), and lightly touch on the experience of performing at an actual venue in the area, South Street Arts Centre! 

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Fantastic performance tonight with Redcape Theatre 🔥 Incredibly informative experience which we are sure to apply to our own practise! (at South Street Arts Centre)

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The culmination of our Ethos Report, (most of) the Post-Report Talk and our in depth ensemble discussion around the task itself.

We touched on elements of Phenomenology, especially the revelations surrounding our senses. We spoke about companies we have taken inspiration from/are interesting to us (Forced Entertainment & Graeae). 

And we also reflected on the wisdom and knowledge we took away with a discussion we were lucky enough to have with Colette Conroy (previous director of Graeae and respected academic within Deaf and disability arts).

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First Performance Day! Fright at the Museum: our response to Feminist play #TwoManShow by #Rashdash. Looking at gender in the workplace and challenging how we view bodies

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Key Research Quotations

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Role of the women in Fright at the Museum

To visually and verbally challenge the literal position of the man in the ‘workplace’ (in this case, as statues in a museum). 

Charlie’s first line “Look at my muscles. Look at my bum” (Two Man Show)

Yvonne’s first line “This is me toned down. This is me on my best behaviour” (TMS:68)

Tegan’s first line “This is me being a Lady. This is as quiet as my voice goes” (TMS:68)

The lines were relevant to them as statues, as ‘characters’, as women and to their personal lives. 

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Inspo - Joan by MILK Presents.

Experiencing a play in the round about the gender revolution 

What we learned in relation to our performance;

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Inspired by the scratch performance of Being Gordon Greenridge, in mapping out the structure of our first ensemble performance, we incorporated interesting ways to physically interact with the audience, much like Augusto Boal explored in his work practices.

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The Evolution of Tom -Beginnings of our response to Rashdash Two Man Show

In terms of nakedness on stage, we discussed our responses to viewing naked female bodies on the stage and how it might compare to naked male bodies. The effect asked us how we look at women and deal with their nakedness. The action of 'being' rather than 'acting' as women.

This sparked conversations around what is a socially acceptable way for a woman to present herself in public, and how that contrasts with the way in which a man can present himself. We reflected on personal experiences with uniform policies in work and school environments, and how women can often be pressured to cover up, whilst for men this is not a problem.

Our first rehearsal where we got to do some physical exploration. We investigated potential avenues to portray themes of "The History of Man" and how we can impose this upon the audience. Leading on from our last meeting we explored nakedness and the different levels that exist and how we might utilise these. Clothing is an interesting theatrical tool.

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Welcome to our blog - it’s Only Just Begun! 

We will be posting about our creative process as an emerging ensemble theatre company.

 OUR ETHOS 

We are interested in exploring and engaging with the idea that going to the theatre, as a performer or audience member, is a social event. 

We aim to explore this using techniques of meta-theatricality, immersion and phenomenology to present social issues in an interactive environment. We want audience members to be confronted with the consequence of their own bodies in the space as well as the performers, challenging how we act within the conventions of the theatre.