• Anna Deavre Smith Baltimore, 1950

# Race                                   # Identity                            # Community     #Documentary

Interview            – Unbiased, not her view

-Voice, accent, mannerisms, utterances – INCLUSIVE

-Varied context / subject matter – SAME APPROACH: Characters vary, style remains

 

• Eric Bogosian Actor, Playwright, Monologist                    ‘Genius laced with comedy’

Harmonious: Alienation/Harmony

Collating big, social / philosophical ideas with everyday comedy

Molecules: Creating characters which can articulate his personal views in an accessible/ comical way

#Internal//External                         #Black Humour                                 #Attack on Society

-Creating characters to invite judgement

-‘Wanting to hit the world with a stick’

 

ADS vs. EB

Embodies characters to tell their story           ||          Embodies Characters to tell his story

& give their viewpoint                                          ||                         & give his viewpoint

Joshua Sofaer’s Performance Pack Performance was a really fun and interesting experience. It structured ‘how performance is used by performers’ in this model:

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• The Art Exchange                          }              Space   –  Location
• Participants: Artist & Audience   }                         &
• Art Work: Form & Content               }              Time    –  Duration

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• The Art Remnant: Documentation –Recorder –Viewer –Medium –Selection

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Each of these sections is broken down and considered in terms of a certain number of options:

• 1.) The Artist: Cultivates and Practices. In the case of my performance the artist will obviously be myself however this section will include collaborators such as my classmates, Martin, Lisa and anyone else I enlist for help along the way!

 

• 2.) The Audience: Auditors, spectators, participants, collective witnesses

One to One        //            Chance                 //            By Ticket              //            Remote Viewer

 

• 3.) The Form: How the piece is expressed, performance technique and application

// Object          – Left over from performance end

// Video            – Performer not present, entire piece pre-recorded

// Interactive   – Audience directly affecting performance

// Action           – Live action as with traditional theatre

 

• 4.) Content

Personal              //            Political                 //            Spectacle             //            Self-Reflexive

 

• 5.) Location: No site is neutral.            Given Location vs. Chosen Location

Chosen Specific Site     //         Given Specific Site         //          Theatre                //            Street

 

• 6.) Duration: Quantitative

60 Seconds         //            60 Minutes         //            24 Hours              //            365 Days

 

• 7.) Documentation: Recorder – Who, Viewer – Sense of, Medium – Form, Selection – Content

Photo                    //            Drawing               //            Trace                     //            Gossip

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Each of these sections will be considered for my final piece and having gone through the pack, looking at a number of artists and performances and discussing the different options as a whole class was a great way to consider a range of perspectives. Overall, the Performance Pack Performance provides a helpful set of tick-boxes to ensure a stable structure.

 

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Final Performance:

1.) Myself.

2.) Ticketed –  25% by invitation.

3.) Action – involving direct address.

4.) Self-reflexive – though projected on / inclusive of the majority of audience members, i.e. other students. Also, intertextual; weaving ideas and extracts from ‘The Library of Babel’ with the ‘mad woman  in the attic’s story and my own opinions and perceptions.

5.) Chosen specific site – essence of ‘theatre’ and stage, made more intimate.

6.) 10-15 minutes.

7.) Gossip – though practical elements of process were documented through photos.

Major Tom

Things to think about from Major Tom:

• Drawing similarities between two disciplines / areas to highlight / juxtapose/ compare
• Presenting documentary style personal experience
• How we can share the stage in solo
• Creating a script from recorded speech
• Relationship with audience – inclusive, confessional, conversational
• Satire addressed through whimsy / endearing tone
• Measured pace/ emphasis of delivery
• Performance arc – maintaining story, losing floaters

After taking a while to warm up to Mrs. Melody, I enjoyed her gently comedic performance with its critical / political undertones and healthy dash of feminism. She had a clear, linear progression; the audience knew what to expect and the kind of journey they were going to go on, though I don’t suggest the narrative was predictable, the comedic elements certainly kept it from being so and both Victoria and Major’s personal peaks and troughs kept us moved throughout the performance.

Though not looking to create such an extensively devised piece, there are some things I’d like to consider for my own solo. I really liked how we got a sense of her character through her script / speech. Speaking to her in the post-show she said the way she created her script was to tell her story to someone, record and dictate it. I think this is a great way to convey the right sense of tone in a conversational piece, I think it would be interesting to contrast sections of script created in this way with devised, written pieces and see how the differences sounded and felt.

I also thought it was very clever how she tinged the piece with a slightly political tone in places, an interesting way to highlight everyday politics as encountered by us all. I think this is definitely something to consider for my solo not only to give it another dimension in terms of context but to help ensure a wider reaching message can be derived from what is likely to be a self-involved, though not self-indulgent, performance.

Most importantly her point on maintain the performance arc was really interesting and helpful. When asked in the post-show how she chose what material went into the final show and what other things she had gathered were left out she said that it was important to focus on the performance arc and discard any ‘floaters’. I think this will be really helpful for selecting material when I settle on my final idea.

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Major Tom by Victoria Melody (2015). [Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, Lincoln, 5th February 2015].

• Spalding Grey

Monologues: delving deeply / darkly – exploring              Grey’s Anatomy, Black Spot

-Performs anecdotally: One to one connection, may be mundane content, captures performativity of everyday life, self-indulgent self-disclosure,

-Anecdotes of personal life lead to wider society commentary

“What is worth noticing is the world”

-His work vents, but he still harbours that feeling

# Pace                   # Rhythm                            # Energy              #Static

-Seated performance => greater vocal expression + Props: table, notebook => not a Show

“One must have one’s delusions to live”  (Annie & Her Sisters)

• Summary: Gray’s anecdotal monologues simultaneously capture the performativity of everyday life, telling commonplace anecdotes and reported stories, whilst delving deeply and often darkly into his own troubled mind to explore his own thoughts alongside external experiences, ultimately leading to wider social commentary.

 

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• Adrian Howells

Theatrical performer inviting the participation of members

#Trust

-Unabashed honesty, generous, courageous

– Theatre = shared act, not just consumed

-Physical contact with audience members

-Intimate, one-on-one performances

“How are you? Really means How are you.”

Footwashing for the Soul: All performances guided by willingness/giving of audience/participant

-Autobiographical -> Confessional because of mass-mediation of society

-Solo = Vision of the world

“Giving people the opportunity to alleviate guilt and shame

-Collective Global Catharsis

-Willingness to tell secrets to strangers

“An excuse for me to have a meaningful connection with other people”

• Summary: In his solo work, Adrian Howells predominantly creates intimate, one to one performances which involve physical and emotional connection, usually stimulated by revealing Howells’ own vulnerability, before questioning that of the individual audience member.

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SG                             vs.                     AH

Intellectual                                       Emotional

Connection                                      Connection