Re-Branding CSSD

Central School of Speech and Drama hosted a 'Re-branding' event at the school, in which I was able to create a performance that reveal alternate collaborations and strengths that the school also produce, apart from classical and musical students. Proving that there are talented lighting/sound and visual designers emerging in Central.

Starting inspirations originally came from seeing Willi Dorner's 'Bodies in Urban Spaces'. The idea of the spectator discovering bodies/ performances from different spaces that wouldn't typically be classed as a theatre space, became really interesting to me.

Unfortunately having to adapt and change my ideas quite dramatically because of the politics of the event and the spaces allocated to myself, the end product came away from the site specific ideas of Dorner.

Collaborating with other peers from my course we evolved this idea into a live performance installation. Which is a personal ongoing research question/ area for myself.
We decided to use the whole space we had to set up a giant web like structure out of rope. Which we would have the audience move around the space from the outsides peering in through gaps in the corridors of performance black curtains. Which gave the sense of the spectator not only seeing the performance action, but observing the other audience members watching from opposite the space.

We decided to place the sound and lighting designer in the middle of the installation, so it was visible to the spectator throughout the performance, the concept of the performance being changeable and live throughout.

Being a durational (if you can call it that? another question of mine) of over two hours, the piece developed to become more entangled within the space. The performers adding more twine, rope to the structure to develop a bigger web of connections.

The performers were restricted in their own spaces, cut off by the rope structure. Though the spectator were able to communicate to each performer by filling out a questionnaire supplied on the evening, and personally handing it to the performer.

The idea and concept revolved around the idea of connections between societies/ people. As we found especially on the MA ATP course, that we have all arrived here from very diverse and different backgrounds. Yet separate, collecting together to create a 'new' connection as it were.

Text deriving from personal experiences of coming to London, childhood stories, fears of living alone, worries of moving to a city etc etc.

After the performance, it became clear that this felt the middle of a research performance, that there is something more behind the idea of fealing alone in a big, busy city. The truth is, as I found from the spectator's answers, that we all feel alone in London.

'Re-Branding' CSSD

These are pictures from the process of the 'Re-Branding' durational performance installation at Central.

Photographs by Liz Wilks

The 'Pain' process

Photographs by Riki Kim, Titi Dimak, Mafalda Cruz & Liz Wilks

'Pain' Video work created by Riki Kim

Photographs from the video process by Riki Kim.

Inspired by the idea of expressing pain through no verbal means. Body language, eyes, internal emotions and forces. For this video Jon and myself had our faces painted white in a traditional 'Noh' style. Then our faces, and bodies were wrapped in bandages, rope and cloth, which restricted our vocals and limited our movements.
During the process Jon and myself were tied/connected to each other, and also individually had our arms tied together.
Giving a real restriction pf being in pain and unable to move. There were times when I was stuck facing the floor with my hands tied behind my back, physically unable to move or pick myself up. Which in return inflicted an inner pain and emotion that was real, and exhausting! ha

Images to see!

Images that have I have found that support the performance ideas and development. These images I have found interesting and intriguing to open up further comment and disscussion.

Liz

A short poem that I wrote a while ago seemed to resonate with some of the ideas we discussed. Liz wrote a response to it and we linked it to a text I had written to create a small scene. The text I wrote was a character imagining a relationship with his neighbour who he meets when they are forced to leave their house. Liz wrote two poetic texts that looked at intimacy and despair. The three texts slotted together creating a dream like scene in which two characters are connected but are also separate.

If the World ends….

Death

Forgets life,

Beautiful and exciting with

Accelerating speed,

Carrying hearts full of love

And glory of dreams.

These reasons for living

Give us help to survive,

If the World ends

Survive! To help us give

Living for reasons these

Dreams of glory and

Love of full hearts.

Carrying speed accelerating

With exciting and beautiful

Life, forgets

Death

by Jon Gavaghan

We are concerned with what happens to people when their situations are altered by a natural disaster. We were mainly influenced by the floods in Cumbria in November 09, however the recent earthquake in Haiti has turned this subject on it's head. The tragedy being portrayed in the media at the moment has prompted us to rethink ideas and to really look at how a natural disaster affects people. The main problem with this piece is how to make a work that doesn't patronise the audience or try to recreate actual events or people? What is evident is that natural disasters remind us that we are not alone and that nature is a force that can't be tamed or contained. How can we create a piece that highlights the the power of nature and it's affect on a fragile species?

Electric Arts Club! January scratch

19th January, 2009. The Electric Arts Club scratch night, Brixton.

Photographs by Mafalda Cruz.