Wednesday 2 February 2011

No Excuses

Well, it's February now, so there aren't many excuses that we can make for not having gotten back in to the swing of things after new year. The good news is - we don't need them, as a month seems to be a good amount of time in which to shake off the hangovers, get some fresh ones, and power through them in turn.

Last week, we got our narrative caps on and tried to decide what our research had led us to. We have, for a while, been fairly agreed on the idea that as a company we're not trying to teach anyone anything in particular. Who are we to say that what our shows consist of is right or wrong? What matters is that it is. And the audience can take something away from that. During a piece, we want to say many things and at the same time nothing. Our work isn't didactic, but our views, opinions and personalities naturally affect it. As long as there is an experience or reaction, varying from person to person, we provided it and did our job. As Barker said - 'There is no message'.

SO...

Without giving too much away, we're focusing on a man. A man, his life and his experiences - or more his lack of them. We have realised that at some point in our lives, all of us have just snapped awake for a split second and thought 'What have I done with these past few weeks?'. That sort of feeling of life skimming you by without actually realising what's going on in it. We've decided to have a look at this feeling, the self justification that comes with it and the personality(ies) he creates to cope when his only access to the outside world is his tv. A man who refuses to move on in his life and just sticks with the simple, the known, and the easiest routine. Based upon the exploration we did late last year on film and relationships, I'm quite excited.  It's bound to evolve, but we've got some solid ideas on how to stage it and how to create the right world.

We just started by creating our world - a man's house. He's stuck here, this is his world. We added his connections to the 'real' world. His possessions. His communications with others. His past. We've tried to add detail to make it vivid. But not real. There's nothing easier to make boring (in my oh so humble opinion) than naturalism. The stage has so much more to offer than a window in to someone's home. Now, we're planning out his events. And what can happen to and for him. Strangely, I don't want to say too much, but there are details which I'm dying to talk of....

Anyway, on top of this, on Friday Me, Jon and Leo are getting a visit from our other [Sticky-Tape] member, Jon Armstrong, who acted as director for our last two shows. He's had about as much contact with the piece as anyone else who skims this blog, so it'll be nice to see what an outside eye can give us. Between him and Andrew Quick, who is talking everything through with us tomorrow, we should avoid becoming too stagnant. Here's to hoping. We're assembling our props and jotting down our ideas. It should all start to form now. We've been playing and experimenting for a good few months now, and we're ready to start creating.

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