Captain Busby

I have been watching “Captain Busby” by Ann Wolf. It’s an absurd look at a station in the middle of nowhere. It’s got some great dialogue but I feel it lacks a message. The message is what I was talking about before. Ms. Wolf seemed to be under the illusion that you could achieve success in the absurd with as little as a carrot and a carriage moving on its own. The original poem by Phillip O’Connor had many levels to it. It even has a sometimes sombre feel. I still think it was incredibly brave to attempt to put something like this on film, especially in 1967 when it was made. The absurd was only for the stage then and the public at large were generally unaccepting of anything like this. Overall, this is an example of absurdity for the sake of absurdity. Still worth having a watch, it was available through the BFI website. I would recommend the poem by Mr. O’Connor too. Some great surrealism.  

Task 5a

It’s been a while since I actually attempted one of these tasks. The reader has asked me to talk about the professional ethics of my professional practice – Chickenshed. I was just about to start researching when I read that no research was needed for this one. All that is required is individual thought… upon reading that I fell in love with this task. I am very familiar with my own thoughts, me and them have spent many a long dark winter night together.

In the words of Mr. Crisp “happiness rains down from the sky there.” Of course he was talking about New York City but this quote can be used for the dual purpose here I feel. Chickenshed is sort of like a little world of its own. Located in Southgate it occupies its own parallel dimension where everyone is friendly, everyone has time for one another and people talk as if they are pleased to see you. I know these aren’t “professional ethics” but I believe it is important for me to set the stage as it were.

Chickenshed was started in the early part of the 1970’s by Jo Collins and Mary Ward. They made it their mission to create a place that is completely inclusive – a theatre where everyone can be a part as long as they have a passion for the work. All kinds of people with varying abilities are given the opportunity to do what they love. The building has changed but the ethos, the direction is the same. Chickenshed’s mission in my mind is to cultivate a world where acceptance and seeing the worth in all kinds of people comes naturally. The fact Chickenshed wishes to gather people together to be used to the best of their ability is remarkable. The feeling of unity it creates is awe inspiring and to watch a show there is like seeing the world in a whole new light. It’s a vision of a less judgmental future where people are taught to care more for each other.

The inclusion of everyone could be seen as a major disadvantage but Chickenshed will always do what it can to work everyone in. If the people cannot adapt the material itself will. The inclusion of everyone is more important than the end result, which actually helps to enrich it.  

I remember a couple of years ago there was a little girl trying to sing a song. She has several goes and by the end was so out of time with the music the band must have felt jet lagged. Now, instead of Jo Collins saying “oh, I’m sorry my dear we need to go with someone else”. She said “I’m going to put another symbol in there so the beat is a bit clearer”. This is remarkable it’s not only the patience of the people there but the ability to bend to the needs of others if they so need it. When I had to sing a couple of years ago, Jo must have gone through the song with me about 50 times. Never once did she look remotely bored, or frustrated. Always, with a smile just going over things. These are the ethics Chickenshed live by. As long as you have a passion for not only performing but for other people the world can only get better. 

All Things Absurd

Chickenshed have re-launched their Emerging Writers week. I wrote something for this the same time last year. This time I shall go more down the path of theatre of the absurd. As I have previously said I find all things to do with the absurd much more glorious and awe inspiring than anything “normal” who wants naturalism after all? We are forced to live in real life who in their right mind would also want to pay to watch it when the highest possible compliment you can give it is “it was wonderfully mundane”.  The absurd can knock back home perfectly good “real world” kind of messages without the threat of becoming so close to life that if the stage went on for a further ten miles you could imagine seeing yourself sat at home.

What I suggest is make things real to a point – then throw in the one element that does not match. This element is what makes a play stylish. It gives it that slight otherworldly hint while anchoring it on the shores of planet Earth 2012. Some plays however do this the opposite way around – they will be set in a world so absurd that anything resembling real life will take it further away from it. This is also stylish and works wonderfully.

The children’s book ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ is a perfect example of messages hidden through the absurd. It offers a world completely eccentric long before anything otherworldly turns up. Alice is by her nature an absurd character. She talks like a Greek philosopher and yet has a sort of pseudo childlike innocence. She reacts to each situation with no fear of her impending death but with an insult or a giggle. If a talking Catarpillar calls her stupid she will not reply “ahhh a talking Caterpillar with a Hookah pipe” she would call it “rude”. This language, the “rude” serves as both the real world and the absurd joke. It’s a very typical reply from a very polite and boring period in British history deployed at the most outrageous of times. However, it would be foolish to accuse Mr. Carroll of writing nothing but nonsense. In fact much of his writing is the exact opposite of this it contains messages for sure. Much of them aimed it would seem in my opinion at the royal family and it’s way of going about things. First of all we start with the Duchess. Living alone in a stately house that is dilapidated and being used for the bare minimum we see her sat there – the upturned nose, the wide face and the squinted eyes perfectly represent the then unfashionable but quite correct view of all things aristocratic in the country. Not only is the Duchess drawn like some kind of inbred goliath but she also has a baby that turns into a pig… I think this shows us Mr. Carroll’s view on the Royal bloodline. Then we come to the cards. They play the biggest role in what I consider to be Mr. Carroll’s blow to the Royals. The Queen of Heart is a despotic tyrant, crying out “off with her / his head” at a whim. This is perfectly representative of the kind of people who once sat on the throne. Her likeness is so similar to Queen Victoria. That penguin like appearance with that oh so familiar outfit. Apparently Queen loved the book. Perhaps she considered it a tribute. Perhaps it was meant to be one. I don’t want to get bogged down in the hidden messages of the characters in Wonderland. My point is simply that the absurd can often offer messages that are presented with so much style that they are disguised. You don’t just take in the views of the author you are forced to understand it. You can take it at face value if you like or you can delve into the psyche of a man with a clear sense of humour and understanding of the foppish silliness of his time. I am in the early stages of planning something but so far I think it will have the themes of desensitization and possibly grief.

As an Ugly Sister in
Cinderella's understudy run

Prospero in
Shakespeare's Island

This same rule of mixing styles that I mentioned before can be brought to the foreground in performance. When I played the part of Prospero in “Shakespeare’s Island” back in March of this year I didn’t for one second presume I could get my teeth into the character. Actor’s today have the wonderful, blissful comfort of knowing every way that a character can be played has already been done. So don’t try. What you instead need to do to make it look like you have created an entirely new version of character is mix things up a little. First of all start with your character. Prospero – he can be played, sympathetic, insane, despotic and even heroic. So how do you play him a new way… it would be a mistake to try and make him a coward – because It won’t mix with his dialogue. So instead of making the character himself original in a contrasting way – make the performance itself contrasting. Now you can play him in any of the aforementioned styles. So if you choose to play him heroic play him in the style of say – Michael York. Mr. York to my knowledge has never played Prospero and so taking elements of his performance as say Tybolt and saying the lines with the same speech pattern it will look to people as it’s something completely original. Many of you will disagree with this and say that it’s lazy… and yes it is, but in my opinion acting is the profession of a lazy person to begin with. I could never do anything real. So when playing an ugly sister – play it as Al Paccino. It will be painfully obvious what you are doing but people will come out the theatre with “oh wan’t it wonderful how that actor played that woman like Al Paccino”. I like to call that - fashionable plagiarism. I did play an Ugly Sister once as an understudy and created no sensation as I was very safe... but my Paccino is very bad so I couldn't achieve what was needed.

So in reflection everything has been done but don't let it put you off of doing it better. In the word's of Mr. Crsip: "if the sunny side of the street is full walk in the road".         

What Other People Have Had To Say

I was saying before that issue based theatre doesn't really date. Well I thought I would share some of the audience reactions from the show so far.

'An updated farce slickly performed!'

'The best comedy that Chickenshed has ever done! You have to see it!'

'Totally madcap!'

'Funny, energetic, clever and positive'

'Very entertaining, an excellent evening out'

I took them from the Chickenshed website. I think it proves there is a want and more so a need for this kind of production. This has furthered my drive to explore the lifespan of issue based plays even further.

My Direction

I think I'm going to change the direction i'm going in with the course. I was originally looking at how theatre can be a good tool for making the elderly feel like part of a community. This was a subject I took a lot of interest in and even put into practice with the short play 'There's No Tomorrow' I wrote that was performed as part of the emerging writers week. Using a member of Chickenshed's over 60's it was a great way to integrate a wider spectrum of performers. I do still truly believe theatre would be a great tool for making the older members of the community feel that the longevity of issues within plays themselves interests me more than anything. Issues that don't get old, issues that do, why certain things stay relevant, why others fade into obscurity. This is where I feel I'll have to start focusing. I have batted the idea around for awhile and even mentioned this is previous blogs like the questionnaire. I'll be looking into other issue based plays and coming to a conclusion in the week. I mentioned London Road before and that really was what started me off thinking like this. I just feel there are so many issues, how do you pick just one. So then the real question raised is 'what makes an issue and issue?'.

Can't Pay? Won't Pay!

An image from the show.

The last couple of weeks I have been in the middle of a show called 'Can't Pay? Won't Pay!' I play the part of John (originally called Giovanni in Dario Fo's script). It's been great and has really got me thinking more about the social relevance of the issues raised in the show.

The fact plays like this can stay so current. Constant references are made to the right laying waste and the people feeling betrayed by the left. This fits perfectly with the state of things at the moment. It's almost as if Mr. Fo had a crystal ball when he was putting pen to paper. The audience reaction has been great so far too. People have found something with such an underlying message of uncaring governments, gun happy police and a terrible economy reassuringly hopeful. It's message is given across with charm and wit rather than lashings of doom and gloom. When you consider the play was written in 1975 it really does speak volumes.

I do get strangely inspired by men like Dario Fo. It's their gift to see things not only as they are but as they will be. Some of the language may need updating but not one issue raised in this play could be interchanged for anything.

Task 4A: Questions

QUESTIONS…

1)     Do you feel that plays with a social economic / social message to convey have more longevity than an original story that is purely there for entertainment?

2)    Is it really necessary to update plays in the way of language and the setting? Or do you feel that plays keep their social relevance when left in the original time period?

3)    In your opinion is theatre really as “accessible” as people claim? Or do you feel in some cases the word “Theatre” itself can act as a divide and put some people off?

4)    In times of recession shows like Matillda, London Road, Lion King and many, many more continue to sell out. Do you feel that in this way theatre produced solely for entertainment is as vital as theatre produced to put across a social message?

5)    Do you feel some issues are more popular than others? And that making issues “trendy” almost takes away from their hard hitting and realistic message?

6)    Are there some issues that should be discussed with more sensitivity than others? Do you feel that some writers will be radical and shocking in their plays juts to be a sensation? I know that Niklas Rådström was accused of this for his 2008 play – Monsters.

Return of the killer Blogs

This blog is just a quick reminder that I am still alive and on the course. I managed to pass the first part (although I admit I did defer once). I have also decided that rather than just focussing my studies on the inclusion of the elderly in Theatre, I will broaden my horizons as it were and look at how theatre affects society in general. I know that it’s not as specific but I just feel like there are so many areas that get ignored I’d like to try and cover a few of them. 

I’m in the process of trying to think up some questions that will follow this blog. Please feel free to answer them as it will be a big help.

Paul   

Task 3A: Professional Networks

I must admit I have very little experience in the world of professional networking. I've certainly not done much of it. Networking I have done a little in acquiring CD's and collectibles but no, never on a professional scale. This is something I want to look at though as I do have a desire to start earning a bit of money through voice overs so have started to plan a few bits and bobs. I'm thinking of getting in touch with a voice director to see if they will produce a demo for me. This will probably come later though as I'll make a rough demo first in the Chickenshed studio and test the water so to speak. If there is a positive reaction then I will try and get something a little more professional done and start trying to generate some work. Obviously, this isn't a lightning quick process and I will have to set up some kind of website through which I can sell myself. Include a voice reel and stuff like that.

I have had a few voice over experiences at Chickenshed in 2010 I recorded narration for the Christmas show "Badjelly's Bad Christmas". I had recorded a voice over in 2009 for a studio student produced show called "12 to 1" but as I say it was a much smaller scale project. A similar student project that was part of last years end of year shows was for a show called "Gameism"; it probably didn't have the same amount of audience as the Christmas shows but I was very pleased with it. I got to do a Richard Burton(ish) voice for the beginning of the show. I also recorded some additional dialogue later. In November of 2011 I got to go back into the studio and record a sort of snooty BBC royal correspondent type thing for the show "Cinderella". I'm very grateful for them letting me have these experiences as I think It gives you that rough idea of what you want to do. I think this will be a subject that my knowledge will grow on when I actually go into the industry and start trying to find the relevant people.

I will update this blog when I put that ball in motion.

Task 2D – Inquiry Task

1.)                What in your daily practice gets you really enthusiastic to find out more about? Who do you admire who also works with what makes you enthusiastic?

When people are completely committed to the same goal as you are, like a small cast who all want the exact same outcome and are so willing to put in that extra effort. I think no matter how enthusiastic you are about the subject itself that enthusiasm can be lost when others don’t believe in it. But I suppose when everyone has that same feeling you do, it’s great. I find I can even become more enthused when the working environment itself is good.

2.)                What gets you angry and makes you sad? Who do you admire who shares your feelings or has found a way to work around the sadness or anger?

I suppose when you feel people are letting everything down. When a single group are destructive within a performance and don’t care if it’s ruined for anyone else involved. I find this can make me very angry, it’s the disregard for peoples work that’s the most infuriating. Even during other projects I have helped out with the absolute disrespect some people show to their peers can really be disgraceful. I find the people I most respect when it comes to this kind of stuff would have to be celebrity Chefs (any Chef would probably do). I know that sounds absolutely ridiculous but I love the way they deal with members of their team who are slacking. They will actually tell them what they think and what they have to change about the way they are doing it. I could list one name but they all seem fairly fiery. I’m not saying that anger and shouting are great ways of dealing with problems, it’s just sometimes I think people need a bit of tough love.

3.)                What do you love about what you do? Who do you admire who also seems to love this or is an example of what you love?

I love watching something performed. Especially when I’ve had some involvement in the writing or production of it. There is something great about standing back and looking at what people bring to something that was originally just an idea in your head. There are so many practitioners I could say I admire when it comes to this but I have to say, Woody Allen is probably the main one. He’s written some of the best comedies in history. He recently wrote a new film starring Larry David, “Whatever Works”, it really was one of the best films I’ve seen in years and manages to bring something new to the table.  I put in a link to his Wikipedia page so you can find out a little more about him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Allen

4.)                What do you feel you don’t understand? Who do you admire who does seem to understand it or who has found a way of making not understanding it interesting or beautiful, or has asked the same question as you?

I suppose any number of things really. I don’t understand how I can just pick one thing I don’t understand. The world itself is as dubbed by the Temptations a “Ball of Confusion.” I think really the not understanding of stuff makes it all the better. As soon as the mysteries gone from a subject it looses it’s appeal in my mind greatly. So I suppose who I would have to admire would be the humble bumble Bee. Thanks for giving us one last thing that can’t be explained through the use of science.

Paul

Task 2b & 2C – Journal Writing Experience / Reflective Theory Task

Barbara and Pete rehearsing for 'There's No Tomorrow'

Now, I’ve taken a major liberty here and decided to incorporate both parts 2b and 2c. I found I was repeating a lot of the same stuff and really didn’t need half of it.

Well my most recent experience with performance was Shakespeare’s Island but I’ll take it back a bit to February. It was a week of performances at Chickenshed that was called “The Emerging Writers Week”, this was where a few members of the company wrote individual short stories based on personal experiences or just themes we wished to explore. I have always enjoyed writing but found the idea of have a group of people looking at and watching my work played out for the first time in front of a public audience rather daunting. I was told back in July that this was going to be put on and had to think of a subject to explore. Considering that I wanted to explore the themes of integrating different age groups and creating work as one unit I found myself leaning towards subjects about old age and the difficulties faced. I based the story mainly on my grandmother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease and the effect it has on the whole family. Much of the script I took from actual conversations I have heard and been a part of with my Nan. I put off the writing for as long as I could and then eventually got a finished script by January. I was constantly battling with the ending. Obviously, 20 minutes isn’t a huge amount of time to tell a story that you want to contain moments of a mixture of different emotions. I was still not 100% convinced when I handed in the final draft but unfortunately, deadlines had to be met and there was nothing much I could do about that. I think In future I would make the best possible use of my time when writing and wouldn’t just settle for things. It may be frustrating but it’s so much more rewarding when at the end you have something you are actually proud of, rather than a feeling of “bah, that’ll do.” In the end it was done and I called it "There's No Tomorrow."

Me and Ashley as Alan and Mark in Bromance.

The next step was also learning lines. As it was a festival type set-up with there being multiple performances each night, I had been chosen to also act in Micheal Gavas’ play Bromance. This was the most challenging step for me as not only was I terrified for my own work being brought to life but now also had to worry about lines. Bromance was a great process and it was only a two-man play. We got a good audience response and the only thing I would like to chance is the length. We had great rehearsals and really worked hard making the characters the best we could. It’s just a shame the play was a bit longer. If it had been an hour I think we would have been able to add even more of these layers and really build their relationship. The only thing I would like to really change about this element of “Emerging Writers” would be my ability to do quick set changes. I imagine I looked like some kind of sluggish monstrosity lugging those blocks around each night. One show I did actually make a conscious effort to be a little more graceful. This I found was an opinion shared by Donald Schon. The whole thing of not only reflecting on your work after but also during. I think this is one of the most important elements of reflection and can be used to much better a performance.

The performance of the piece I wrote was a little different however. It was not really up to me to change as people had begun rehearsing. I read about David Kolb’s reflective cycle and tried to create my own to show this writing process but I found there were too many spin off ideas and I ended up with lines all over a page and no real rhyme or reason. Sometimes I think cycles can be applied if it is a specific pattern that can be followed but with writing there are so many changes that you would be going back over and making stuff you have already done completely irrelevant. I don’t know cycles and diagrams annoy me in general and so I suppose I have a bit of a vendetta against poor old Kolb now.

After watching the performance I was very proud of those who played various members of my family. We had two of Chickenshed’s artistic staff and also someone who was once there and left to pursue a career in film-making. Barbara who played the part of my Grandmother was fantastic and she had previously attended the adult theatre workshops in September of  2011. I was very happy to be able to get a cast of people from all over the company to play the parts in this and it really has helped with my understanding of the writing and performance process. I think In future I would allow myself more time. I wouldn’t be so lenient with deadlines and would try and actually use them to help me. I am planning on writing something for next years emerging writers week and hopefully I will be able to stick to my guns and use what I’ve reflected on to better enrich my work and the quality and which I should settle for.

Paul

Task 1B - Web 2.Oh No!

Well before forcing myself to sit down and write this blog I must admit to never really thinking about what “web 2.0” is. I vaguely remember talking about it on the first during the campus session. Going back over this later would be a massive help and trying to recall certain people’s views.  I know that surprisingly a lot of people were actually not in complete against social media becoming so “social” (for lack of a better expression) there was the view that it has taken away a lot of peoples ability to communicate. A couple of months ago I met up with some friends. I hadn't seen them for a little while and we all had a lot to talk about, but rather than converse we seemed to have periods of intense silence where we would simply look down at our phones and just interact with people we see every day, through either; facebook, twitter, whatsapp or all manner of other devise designed for easy communication. I suppose that is a negative that when it is so easy to keep in touch with people we really do have it at our finger tips and use it in a negative way… but it does have a massive advantage as well. I mean we can now talk to people around the world so easily and making sure you don’t “lose touch” with someone is something that’s actually easy now. Also, for working its easy, people can do so much more on the go now than at one point. For some people I’m sure this is great, but then again it must have it’s negatives. I mean everyone needs a break every now and then and I suppose “sorry, I’m out of the office” will soon no longer be an excuse. Starting out on this blog I got in touch with Natalia who was working on the same thing. She cleared up a lot of my concerns and helped me come to some conclusions.

The way the internet connects people can be a massive benefit. I mean take the riots that occurred all around the world in 2011. These were brought about mainly by social media. The spreading of word through the facebook page “We are all Khaled Said” and peoples personal blogs. Through use of pages such as these it caused worldwide attention and soon got people up in arms over others strife. These riots would overspill and eventually many countries would make stands against barbaric and oppressive regimes. So this can only be seen as a good thing. Without this added element of the internet, this sort of, post and reply, open device for communication, much of this would never have been possible.

My first encounter with the internet being a device for direct communication was in about 2008 when I was looking for music by the artist Long John Baldry. I found the website of one Eli Maas from Holland. He had a fantastic amount of Baldry music listed and I had some stuff he was looking for too. So I simply send him a quick message on the “leave a comment” banner and within a few days he had replied. Now we have managed to assemble a rather massive collection and his website is still going strong.  This is a massive benefit to the internet the way you can so easily talk to people about subjects you are interested in. Say, antiques for example. It would be easy have a passion for collecting antiques, but if you are just starting out where would you begin. Now you can easily go online and find probably thousands of pages dedicated to that subject. Through facebook groups you will have other people who share that passion coming together… and no longer are you just dealing with one person with a shop who doesn’t know what you’re taling about over that phone, no, you are talking to people who are in their own way experts. The sharing of information. This is a fantastic use of the internet in my mind. When it can actually open up streams of conversation. This is what “web 2.0” is all about I suppose. Not just looking at information that’s presented to you, but actually being able to take that knowledge and share you own.

I have used Facebook a few too many times now I suppose. I mean it’s just one example of a much vaster array of websites that have really helped the world to communicate. I remember back in the 1990’s when TV shows would run competitions. It would be “send your answers to”, and then maybe they would offer a fax line. As time went on it was e-mail. Now, its text, tweet, or facebook. I won tickets to see Robert Plant live a couple of years ago just through liking his facebook group. I suppose for musicians the most important part of web 2.0 was myspace. That really was a revelation. People were able to post their music and a fair few bands got signed through it I’m lead to believe. This was a major triumph for musicians trying to get a break in that industry. The record companies were often seen as almost impossible to break into and now here was a way to actually gain public recognition. Myspace may have fizzled out a little now but it still was an important part of making communication online so much easier. Now of course youtube is used for music mainly. But not just for music, youtube, has social issued openly discussed and spoken about. Videos are now posted as replies and many different views on subjects are shared. There is something a little unsettling about youtube however, the comments can get rather nasty and often end in whoever posted the video being almost publicly insulted, but I suppose that’s just a necessary evil of being able to post pretty much whatever the hell you want.

Of course the main negative is really the communication of anything a bit more unsavory. So many times we hear that people have been arrested after the discovery of disturbing and sometimes vile information found on their computer. It has been shown that many pedophiles have operated online and actually been able to use facebook to almost ensnare people. This is another one of those situations, where there is no easy answer. To stop this really you would have to find a way of blocking and controlling information and this would probably spill over. Censoring information would indeed destroy certain freedoms such as that of those who reached out and shared their plight during the before mentioned riots.

The cominication of information is fantastic overall. It has some downsides and I suppose the only way we could really stop this would be to take a step back. To have everything reviewed.  

Paul

Task 1C - 45 Second Clip

I've just got task 1C done. I found the short clip very difficult to do. I'm very socially awkward and I think this shows... Well, I don't think it shows I know it does, I just watched the nonsense back. I don't mind being on stage acting stupid and even on a couple of occasion wear a dress but to talk about myself is a whole different kettle of fish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J24d0vA-WRA&context=C417f9a2ADvjVQa1PpcFNyV2zR0muurherRYGT8xr7aiY0kNDUb1Q=

Well there it is anyway...

The First Blog... God it's late

Well this is my first blog. I should have got this done ages ago since I technically started in September but have resorted to deferring on countless occasions. My reasons for doing the course were really to get a wider understanding of professional practice and also to get another notch on my belt. 

In the future I hope to go into writing and / or voice acting. The two aren’t the most stable of professions however, and may prove fruitless. So getting something behind you that will force you to get a deeper understanding of the professional world on the whole can’t be a bad thing. I am gradually coming to the conclusion that for my final project I want to look at how older members of the community can really come out of their shells through the use of theater. I study at Chickenshed, a theater company open to everyone and through a series of workshops and a vocal group they have held I’ve been looking at what really does get the most out of older people and how open they are to these activities. I’ll write more about these sessions in my next blog but thought I’d better put this one up as a brief intro. 

Paul