Month: February 2014

I developed  previous  ideas to create a third 5 minute solo performance. Having already expressed that I should work with my voice  and building on the honesty in my monologues which people favoured,  I decided to continue recording. I had also been offered  the idea of portraying the inner life of a comic, so that of  showcasing situations in life which I had been in where I had to laugh to stop myself from crying. I thought others could relate to this, the situations may not be the same but hopefully the emotions would be. I carried out  another stream of consciousness exercise , writing for 5 minutes each on reactions to situations in which I want to cry.  I then recorded 5 minutes of the free flowing writing, concisely writing down the first thoughts, or words in my mind.  I did this until I filled two pages. It was very interesting to see the pattern of words, which words had been repeated and which were  enforced. It was also interesting to see the the structure of sentences , the topics I discussed and the connections that could be formed from the language.

I then recorded 5 minutes of the monologue, leaving a 5 second pause on occasions. I continued  the same process with the jumbled words . Afterwards , I mixed the words with the sentences so that one monologue was created

These are  the monologue, and stream of consciousness scripts –

Stream of ConsciousnessMonologue Scripts

In the performance I played 5 minutes of the two tracks- the 4 monologues were more pronounced than the string of words,further enhanced by adding an echo for authenticity. . Simultaneously, I felt I had to do something live  during the performance  but didn’t want any words as this would distract from the audio recording. As the recording was based on experiences in which laughter was covered up I thought about silently crying but then thought this wasn’t clear enough to the audience, it may not be construed as laughter. I therefore continuously wrote on  post it notes ‘ha ha’, and placed several around the table I was sitting at to represent a smile. I then began placing them over my mouth , indicating that I am stopping laughter escape .

Evaluation for this performance was mixed. One strength was that my voice is very listenable , but the delivery of the piece wasn’t. I had over complicated the piece through the post it notes. A weakness relating to this  was that I didn’t explain to the audience to walk around and see the post it notes , as they were hard to see. Furthermore, all people heard were a jumble of words , there was a lack of  emotion involved . Krapp’s Last Tape portrays a man listening to a recorded tape about his life, alike to my intended performance rationale .

Here is the online link that gave me that inspiration

I don’t need to do anything, just present the power of my voice. However, I must ensure that this narrative is a detailed account.

 

Works Cited

Howell, John. Performing Arts Journal , 1979, Vol. 4 Issue 1/2, p152-158

From this week’s theory session, and John Howell’s Solo In Soho I have learned a lot about the expansion of performances beyond just speech.  It is important to remember how my performance links to society and that “Everywhere someone talks, someone listens” (Howell, 1979, 152). It is therefore key that I engage the audience by talking but it must be something that is listenable. Increasingly, “interior talk” and the aspect of an “unqualified personal statement” (Howell 1979, 152). In other words private thoughts are being made public and an opinion on those thoughts is expressed as exactly that, an opinion. I would really like to talk as if in confidence to the audience , expressing my deepest thoughts however expressing these through my own experiences, my own opinions. To be classified as art, which I would like my work to be, it “at least appears to be more by virtue of it’s being less aesthetic” (Howell, 1979, 153). The personal testimony that I want to produce must be reconstructed, perhaps as a stream of consciousness , to highlight it’s honesty.

I also love the imagery of “audio visual technology to create verbal environments” (Howell, 1979, 153).  Words are floating around with no meaning, though arranging those randomly strung words together creates a magical solo performance. Accinci’s performance The Red Tapes inspired me , especially through the “unrelated scenes separated by a blank screen and voice over readings” (Howell, 1979, 153). By playing with the audience’s perception  the audience experience the material in two different ways . I thought I could incorporate this notion into my performance. Perhaps I could include repeated words  which was proven in this production to add an impression of reality.  I don’t want to separate the audience from each other as I feel  this would lose the intimacy and confessional scenario I desire, I could do something at the same time as a recording so that my audience are expressing the performance in two different ways .

It was furthermore important to me that I was myself , rather than in the previous week when I played the character of an interviewer, or as a comic; an exaggerated caricature of myself “through non-acting or acting out rather than “acting” (Howell, 1979, 154). Sometimes, as  Robert Wilson and Lucinda Child’s work does, a presentation can “project a large inner space of free flowing disturbance”  Both performers show no relation to each other and the audience try to convert the language of these , and struggle , imitating “verbal clatter ” (Howell, 1979, 155). I would love to take this thought and implement it into my performance.  I also would like to involve Wilson’s ethos of not telling the audience what it is, but make them question what is it? , just ensure “that each expression arrives from architecture” (Howell, 1979, 155).  Thus, taking the structure of my piece and ensuring that feeling and emotion are projected. Through the new forms of parodied performance shown today, I must learn to play with theatricality to distance myself from character, actor and performance.

Robert Wilson greatly inspired me having researched him for my presentation. I was inspired by the use of the surreal on stage, as well as time and space. He was manipulated by negative and confused reaction to his environment. He asks what’s wrong with illusion , in his art, uses striking comparisons,  and works with minimalist staging.  More than anything the quality that really struck me, and that I wanted to bring to my performance was a journey through life, poetry and the emotional core of the piece.

My presentation on Robert Wilson can be located here- Robert Wilson

 

Works Cited

Howell, John. Performing Arts Journal , 1979, Vol. 4 Issue 1/2, p152-158

In a development to my ideas, I wanted to do something comic to relate to a recorded speech about the inner mind of a comic. I felt everyone can find links to their own personality as we all laugh to forget our fears. I could start by creating a Chaplin style expression with make up whilst the inner turmoil of a clown is recorded. Perhaps I could record that for this week, a speech about the inner psyche of a comedian.

I was inspired on this idea through Charlie Chaplin images

 

I have decided that, rather than trying the make up this week  I will practice other ideas. How about writing ‘hahahahahahaha’ continuously on a piece of paper or silently laughing whilst the recording plays?. I could tell a story about grief, the tears behind the clown and everything else in life that can’t be wiped away by laughter. .I decided to ponder these ideas to hopefully make a final confirmation on what notion to proceed with.

I now have a basis for inspiration for my performance but need some comedy theory to ground it in practice; Amy Taublin’s The Solo Self. Solo performance has it’s foundations in “private obsessions that commands the audience’s attention” (Carroll, 1979, 51).  I will thus ensure that I become fixated with something during my performance. I must also comprise “the feelings of division and distance”  (Caroll, 1979, 51) and I can play around with “the experience of being seen (Caroll, 1979, 52) and “being heard symbolically” (Caroll, 1979, 53), which also will create tension.  The performer must be “observed” (Caroll, 1979, 52). Tabulin’s first solo Pimping for herself describes “what it feels like to be looked at as a performer while also inciting yet defying voyeuristic glances at her nudity”  (Caroll, 1979, 52). This voyeuristic impression I would like to explore in my performance and, in particular “what it is to be a person” (Caroll, 1979, 52). In another performance Double Occupancy Taublin transforms “the words of the text and the staging” (Caroll, 1979, 54) another element I would love to experiment with.  The stream of consciousness present within Taublin’s work is another aspect I would like to make prevalent. The ability to “contrast an invisible living inner voice with it’s visible outer manifestation” (Caroll, 1979, 56)  is another feature I would like to highlight , aided by the technique of “detached delivery” (Caroll, 1979, 56) to enforce certain expression. Finally, “changing angles of view” (Caroll, 1979, 57) really attracted me as something I could add .

With all these ideas in mind I needed to develop my second 5 minute performance.  I felt I  should try to record something and maybe do something to accompany this. I recorded my comedy script and hen listened to it  . I thought this was too boring and remembered Marina’s idea of eating whilst speaking a script  to constitute multi-tasking. I started thinking about the script and then had the idea of eating my words , metaphorically and literally, hearing my script and then eating my words. However, I thought this would be impractical, unless I ate sugar paper; and what message does “eating my words” convey?

I was really inspired by the presentation on Marnia Abramovic. This shocked as to how far she pushed the boundaries however I was intrigued by the metaphors and purposes behind her work.

It was suggested that I focus the performance on thoughts and perhaps the grieving process. It was inferred  that I found out my inner thoughts. I preferred this to talking about grief, as I can’t really specify my thoughts; also this could become too autobiographical and perhaps lose the sense of the words. So, I began with a pre-performance exercise; I wrote down a series of questions I would ask my brain if I could. Making use of the features that have inspired me from the readings, I listened to music throughout , to zone out my brain . After this I was asked these questions and recorded my answers.  Then, in my performance I interviewed myself. I set up two chairs opposite each other, to create an interview. The live me was then the interviewer . After each question the recorded me gave the response. The live me sat and nodded to the questions as though the interviewee was sat opposite me. I picked three main questions: Who are you?, Do you claim to have an ego? and Do you want to be loved?. I felt that these questions were personal to me but also applied to society. They also progressively probed more into the person and gave a range of personality traits, a realistic portrayal.  After these 3 questions on impulse I asked the remaining questions that I had asked myself, almost as though the layers had been peeled back. Now I am no longer looking at another person ; my inner conscience, I am that person. To certify this, at the end of the performance I removed my glasses; a resemblance of true identity; noting to hide this.  I discarded an idea to look at myself through a mirror to realize my true identity. I found it hard to stage it without it restricting my movements. I felt unnatural to perform such a gesture.

Finally, in an evaluation my peers thought it was a brave performance, and interesting to mix the recorded and live self.  Now, to play with a metaphor to the scene. Perhaps, I could add a comic metaphor , to try to present more of a juxtaposition between the live and recorded self.

 

Works Cited

Carroll, Noel (19979) “Amy Taublin: The Solo Self, The Drama Review, 23 (1) March: 51-58.

 

Amy Taubin’s article The Solo Self has helped me in progressing with my solo performance ideas. A solo performance needs to be signified as a “display of virtuosity designed to elicit the spectator’s admiration and awe” (Caroll, 1979, 51). One solo performance artist, Marina Abromovic undertook one experiment, Rhythm 10 in which the artist would stab a knife between her fingers, yet whenever she cut herself she started the process again. I wanted to project feelings of bravery into my performance. In this test she tested the limits of audience and performer. I wanted this to also affect my performance.Marina proceeded to inform the audience they could do anything they wanted with her and gave them a  collection of objects, including a gun and a knife to do whatever harm on her they wished. This aided the audience as a form of therapy from their own fears. Another device I would like to replicate in my performance.

Marian Abromovic really inspired me thus. In another performance she ate a raw onion ; after each bite she uttered words from a  script, or have a conversation. I loved the idea of there being two images, one of a repetitive action and one of language to incite the audience’s viewpoint, and wanted to incorporate this into my work. Metaphorically, just as I visualized in  my performance , the actor is peeling back different layers to reach the suffering. My puns become gradually worse until the suffering erupts. Marina further excited me in her belief that subtext has it’s own definition. There is a subtext to my puns and this is completely different to the humour that is exposed. She focused and was interested in the harmony between body and mind, something else which I would like to explore.

Some of Marina’s  ideas can be explained in this video .

The work of solo practitioner Anna Deveare Smith also inspired me in that she was adamant that solo work should be created with real voices not a story. Thus, a monologue should be shaped by the culture and characteristics of reality.  This is one of the adding factors illustrating a aura of unsettling emotions; another feeling I want to create.

Now to build on this through more comic theory and explore where my mind can take me for another 5 minute performance .

 

Works Cited

Carroll, Noel (19979) “Amy Taublin: The Solo Self, The Drama Review, 23 (1) March: 51-58.