Practical Project 4
Australia burns, and the globe plummets headlong into irreversible climate change and geo-political crisis. Many people, younger and older, feel barely equipped to face the challenges before us. What, if anything, can the performances we make as theatre practitioners contribute to help people face up to this overwhelming crisis? In earlier epochs, a community facing such an existential threat activated inspiring stories from other times of extremis, to help encourage and focus the correct attitude. But in times like ours the revival of a classic play may amount to not much more than fiddling as Rome goes up in flames.
Harry Burton and Elien Hanselaer entertained the possibility that one creative response to the alarming spiral we find ourselves in might be to tune in to the stories and strands of myth coursing through our own veins, echoing through our students chests, perhaps beneath our immediate consciousness, seeking form but not yet finding expression. Could a powerful performance be made and shared using ourselves as the starting point? Practitioners of such adventurous work have called it Ritual Theatre, or Sacred Theatre, where investigations of mythic and archetypal themes originate through a deep exploration of the participants’ profound life experiences in liminal space.
Harry Burton and Elien Hanselaer entertained the possibility that one creative response to the alarming spiral we find ourselves in might be to tune in to the stories and strands of myth coursing through our own veins, echoing through our students chests, perhaps beneath our immediate consciousness, seeking form but not yet finding expression. Could a powerful performance be made and shared using ourselves as the starting point? Practitioners of such adventurous work have called it Ritual Theatre, or Sacred Theatre, where investigations of mythic and archetypal themes originate through a deep exploration of the participants’ profound life experiences in liminal space.
MEETING MYTH : Case Study 4.1
Setting up to introduce others to the training
My research is concerned with developing a method whereby performers are empowered to connect to their co-performers at depth. Instead of creativity evolving solely from the individual, my method aims at a dialogical, trans-individual approach to creating performance. For the practical part of my thesis, It is needed to impact the method in others in a project where I will function as a facilitator.
However, directing a show all by myself would entail that I spend my time primarily on making the show instead of coaching the actors. If I only coach actors without the context of a show, there is no output in which to observe the effect of the methodology. Therefore, a blend of both is needed. Thus the idea emerged to collaborate with students and another practitioner (Harry Burton, a West-end director and drama teacher in London) to make an original piece of theatre. In this context I was able to share responsibilities and had a chance to focus on trying out the methodology without compromise or without being burdened by the responsibility of making the show and the focus that asks. We decided to work around myths and storytelling through my methodology. The process aimed to renew myth through a group coming together. Whatever the form had been that sought its expression through the group, it was always our intention that the developed work-in-progress would be shared with an audience. In addition to the methodology that I describe in Chapter 3, we started from an actor centric dramaturgy in PP4. There is no director with a predetermined directing concept on the piece. The narrative and theatrical interpretation and the situational and character interpretation take place on the floor during the project. We are committed to a theater that may still be driven by play, in a playful and casual, but nevertheless ambitious setting. The first rehearsal week was spent doing exercises in accordance with the training (Chapter 3). These exercises aimed at creating a depth of trust, shared values and a spirit of endeavour within the group. We explored all key aspects of my methodology including active passiveness and seeing the other as 'other'. All the exercises were conducted in an open lab-space, not aiming for a result. In the first week a dominant theme began to emerge, as well as the clear mandate for the creation of a new myth with input from all participants became clear. Throughout the second and third week, Harry and I devised with the students a movement, image and text-based telling of the tale. Finally, if we want to write or invent a new story for the future, it is a political and ideological choice to do this together in the public space. We encourage reflection during the rehearsal process and during and after the performance. We also stimulate debate in the framework and the creation process. |