Elsewhere – director’s blog 6

TakeOver10 officially opens this evening with a huge music launch party and we are one day away from our opening of Elsewhere. There’s always nerves at this point in the process, as essentially the process has finished and what we are left with is the product. But especially with this show there is so much process in the product itself as the show is a ‘work in process’ with the audience and their input. We found on Saturday with our two dress rehearsals that both shows were completely different. Audience react in very different ways, depending on who they find first, how their feeling that day, how that first interaction affects their role…there are a huge number of things that can and will change this performance. And the main thing we knew but now is confirmed that happens is that genuinely everybody gets a very different experience. This I hope is exciting but that also I imagine could also prove frustrating.

We got some useful feedback from the audience and it was clearly engaging for them but I want to try and find a few more people that came to see what their own experience was, because for me I want to make sure the piece is communicating at least to some people what I believe we made the piece for.

The company have done a fantastic job over the past few days and have really engaged in the process of creating their roles but also understanding the need to be able to communicate that role to an audience. If you come and see the piece this will make a bit more sense but essentially it means allowing people actively into your story, no matter how impossible that may seem for your character – as in the end of the day, it’s a play and the audience have paid to see some form of action and story from you. I think its been a positive and constructive process for the company. I know it hasn’t been easy as we’ve asked them to develop new skills and to work in a way that can be very exposing but hopefully through our rehearsals we have been able to make this more liberating and freeing. As often we’ve found ourselves saying to them if they have a difficulty, “it’s your character, you made it, you change it!”. I think there’s an inherent empowerment with this way of working.

So this will be a very interesting week for us all. I don’t really know what to expect, expect the unexpected might be a mantra. But I do hope that our audiences will get something challenging, fresh and of the moment. Let me know if we’ve achieved it for you…

Elsewhere director’s Blog – 5

Our time in the rehearsal room has come to an end and as from tonight we are in the library. It feels like the right time, as we’ve been doing reasonably well in trying to set the space up like the library but nothing compares to the real thing. I think getting re-used to the size of the space will be an obstacle to overcome, everything and everybody is further away with more doors to go through and shelving to move round. We’ll need to re-find the routes through the space. This evening is without the actors, a chance to place the technical elements, of which there aren’t many in the space and to see what sort of atmosphere we can create as florescent lights create a very singular space and we want the idea of separate and defined spaces. The space the audience is stepping into is meant to be as though the library is open but we need to find the theatrical as well so are hoping our subtle lighting additions and subtractions will aid this mood.

Alex and I have been fighting to find the right audience context for the piece, the frame of why the audience are there at this particular time. We finally got there on Thursday and subtly implanted it into the improvisation to see how it would play out. It worked well and pursuing it on Sunday defined further how it will work although we need to refine it and as with everything see how it will work with an audience. We’re constantly encouraging our company to take the audience with you, partially physically but mostly narratively in what they are doing. They need to bring them into their world and the decisions they are taking, to be forceful and engaging throughout. They are becoming better and better but it’s a whole new performance style for most of them. There is no script, no real set-pieces, there is a structure but there is genuine freedom in between and that can be a scary thought. But that is why we have spent a huge amount of time on developing character, constant improvisations so they can respond to whatever situation and interactions arise.

Its an exciting time, a real step into the unknown for me with this production. Its unpredictable because each audience member can react or interact in such different ways. We’re essentially trying to predict how 100 people might react to our piece, and that’s a tricky thing to do! With a script you can normally predict or have some sort of idea what an audience will make of it, partly if its been done before or based on the quality of the writing. But with this show it’s a genuine unknown…I think we’ve been clear in our publicity what the experience will be and hopefully our audience will come with a curious and playful spirit that will suit our piece. I think this show follows a maxim that I like, “You get out what you put in”, if an audience follows this I think they’ll be in for a treat.

Lorca is Dead – Rehearsal Video 3

Lorca is Dead – Rehearsal Video 2

Lorca is Dead – Rehearsal Video 1