Etchells talks about how he approaches the making process: ‘the process they used was chaotic, exploratory, blundering. A question of going into the rehearsal room and waiting for something to happen. Waiting for something that amused, scared, hurt, provoked or reduced one to hilarity’. This sounds delightful and exciting but the reality is that I do not have the time to enjoy such a process, I still do not even know who I will be working with. If I want things to run to the timetable that I have, I am going to have to use prompts and devices for generating play opportunities; I am going to have to be more structured in my approach. I am hoping that once I have got things going that the performers will pick things up and really run with them, pushing them to the boundaries, taking them to their breaking point.
Play seems to be a recurring device of devising and is also something which fascinates me as a practitioner, I love the idea of games, party games, children’s games; ‘devising involves a lot of discovery. Its important to play first, to improvise, then set it structurally’.
Bert O States and Michael Kirby offer some really interesting perspectives on how we can theorise the concept of non acting, as does John Freeman; I will have to dig out the books and articles I have in this area for a more in depth look.
Rachel Rosenthal is also a really interesting read on the subject of performing and devising; she suggests, ‘start from scratch [..]. Take risks, psychologically and physically. Generate your own stuff. Think of everything you do as if it is the only chance in life that you have to do it: now, here, in a particular way. You will never have the chance again’. I feel that this quote is so pertinent to the kind of work which is aiming to place the audience in the role of the creatorly participant because it is all about the moment, that particular performance, with those particular people in that same space, working together, playing together, creating together. She really manages to understand the fleeting and ephemeral nature of this type of performance.
Wooster Group-Goat Island-Stan’s Café-Third Angel-Reckless Sleepers-Imitating the Dog….will go onto their websites to see if they have any insight into the devising process that they use to make their work.
Bed time now I think…yes.
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