Solo Performance

I didn’t realise just how much work there is to go into the lighting and sounds of a production. I was also shocked to find just how much you are able to do with lighting. How the colour of the light can change the whole mood or how the length of a fade in or out can change the whole scene. I also didn’t realise the importance of transitions within a piece. When Donald put on the lighting workshop I felt it something which I could not miss, especially if it meant I was able to try out new ideas.

Intensity, duration, colour, relation and atmosphere were all words which kept making an appearance throughout the day. These words helped to create the vision wanted, at each stage as a performer we need to know what we are trying to create, what atmospherically? What emotionally? What is it that we want the audience to know, or to feel or be able to capture?  We looked at two bins on the stage. When the lights simply shone white of course it looked ‘lovely’ but it did not make me feel much. When it was changed to a slight purple/blue tone, it became cold, almost silent on the stage. As if waiting for someone to come along wrapped in their coat and scarf with tears falling down their face. This image became sad, it felt almost lonely. We then looked at it with the colour red shone onto it. This completely changed how I was feeling. I felt the red echo off the bins, I felt anger, love, I saw blood and pain. Such a simple change took me from one emotion to a complete polar opposite without any actors or knowledge of the scene or performance which was about to occur.

There is a hidden trick to lighting I feel as it automatically tells your audience how they should be feeling before given them any other source to go on. It alarms them of the upset, pain or happiness that is to come so they are able to engage themselves in the action but also prepare for what is going to happen.

Who knew the importance of transitions? I didn’t realise just how much light transitions did within a performance, but they completely change the emotions an audience feels, they show a different setting, different feelings and different characters sometimes. We used two spot lights one central and the other to the right wing of the stage. Looking myself I didn’t like the transition, the cross fade just didn’t seem to work in my eyes. One went off too sharply and the other didn’t come on in time. As I mentioned this I was allowed to try out my own idea. I found this difficult as I had no knowledge of lighting so trying to put across what I wanted was difficult. What I wanted to see is the central spotlight come up on the actor with him already stood there, then for that spot to slowly fade, for instance an 8 second fade. When this fade gets to 3 seconds the other spot would begin to fade up taking 5 seconds to get to full beam. As soon as the 2nd spot comes on the actors head would be facing that way and they would begin to move so that they walk into the new spot coming up, that way as the spot becomes full power the actor has just reached the central spot of the new spotlight. You can see why I found it quite difficult to alliterate what I was imagining in my mind. the technician’s managed to understand and did it, to me this looked so much better, you saw the thought process changing from the actor as one scene or memory faded and another appeared. This subtle change of down and up time made all the difference as it was as if as an audience member we were able to see the thought as the actor was moving from each place. We tested to see if a simultaneous snap would work however it was too much, it wasn’t nice on the eye for an audience member and if I am honest it kind of looked messy. As if their was no process or change from one place to another. The story almost stopped then suddenly started again.

There is also the edge of the light to think about, a hard edge can make all the difference when thinking about how the character is feeling and what you are trying to show. Sometimes a softer edge works better. For instance if you were acting on stage but having a memory in the background, a hard edge would be really effective for the actor, then where the memory is the spot could be a different colour helping to balance the emito9nal reaction but a soft edge would also make it seem more mythical, more mesmerizing and show that it is not what is happening in the here and now. This use of coloured memories also makes them seem not quite as accurate as a white light, more that individuals memory of an incident rather that maybe what truly happened. this could also be a really nice transition if the actor is going into the past as they are walking in to this soft faded edge as if walking back into that memory.

there are spotlights, house lights, birdies, LED, blackout, disco balls, fantastical or honest lighting, coloured, floods. Each one shows something different. The angle of the lighting also changes, whether you are lit from the floor, the side, above, or even back lit. Where do the shadows go? Are their any shadows to be seen or re two spots counter acting each others?

I feel there is now a lot to think about with lighting specifically the places/destinations I have, what colours or lighting would be recognised in such places and what mood I am trying to create. Although I have left this workshop happy and intrigued by all I have learnt. I feel slightly confused and yes a tad scared as to what I want and need my lighting to be.

Costume is always an important part of a performance. Whether you wear it or not this is important in itself. Costume can show the audience or at least give them a small insight into your character. I have decided that performing as myself I would like to almost be a blank canvas which is why I am going to wear black. I feel this will give me the ability to change characters as I become my Granda or a younger side of myself. the added hats and scarfs will not look out of place if I am wearing black.

I understand the importance of costume however I do not want my costume to show too much, I want my audiences attention to be on the additional costume that I use as well as the words that I am saying. Sometimes I feel that an extravagant costume design can take away from the action that is occurring. This may work in some performances but it is not the image I would like to show. I feel the messages within my memories and my speeches at the beginning and the end should be enough to help the audience understand the theme of my performance.

therefore I have decided on black shoes, black leggings and a black top. Full blank canvas apart from a hat and scarf which will be added at certain parts of the performance.

Everyone in their lifetime forgets something, whether it is where they have placed their keys, or when they travelled somewhere, or what a mathematical equation is, we have all been in this position. However it is more difficult when we forget something we used to have at the top of our minds. That we could always recall. To try and show this deterioration I am going to use the platform calls as well as the memories. The memories become weaker and throughout my Granda’s recall get’s worse and this is shown as I explain/ show the memory. However I have also decided that the call outs from the train conductor will get weaker. I will do this by firstly calling the platform, time and all the calling points then the next one I will simply call the place and platform, then just to board as the next one is coming, then simply the place. So as the memories get weaker, so does the destinations, the memory of where we are going and what is happening around us becomes weaker as time passes.

I hope this will give another level of memory loss and the confusion on my face will show as I find it difficult to recall where we are going.

My Sunderland match idea keeps seeming to alter. At first I thought it would be great to show what it was like at a Sunderland match, the chants, the kind of people you get seeing a match and what the arena is like itself. However, I was then thinking, this simply shows Sunderland. It doesn’t live my Granda’s memory or show what I wanted it to. I want this memory to be strong, to show that childhood memories are stronger.

With this in mind I have altered this destination. I will now perform it as if we have just gone to Sunderland, I will jump in with my Granda asking where the best place in Sunderland is. I will talk through entering the stadium for the first time ever. Then I will say about my Granda’s favourite memory. Where he turns and see’s me colouring in. I like the humour behind this, the bigging up of the whole event to the fact that in the end I may be in the shirt, the scarf, the hat. I may be wearing top to toe Sunderland gear but in the end I am simply more interested in colouring in.

I am intrigued in creating humour where it is not expected. Especially after the opening of questioning the audience about planning their lives to then have the comedic side of one, Sunderland actually winning, two my Granda’s reactions to the matches, 3 me colouring in instead of watching the match. Then leading to 4, me on a suitcase travelling to the next destination.

This light and easy movement of the piece I feel carries it along and allows the darker meaning behind it to not surface too much. Although the subject of alzheimer’s is dark and upsetting, the comedy helps the audience feel for the character more. This is the side I would like to show. I feel with this change in my performance style it will suit my audience better.

Tim Crouch’s work is based around a specific idea, he had a “self generated impulse to tell a story or explore a form.” (Timcrouchtheatre.co.uk, 2016)

As I read this about Tim Crouch’s work I automatically thought about my own research into Alzheimer’s. I alone had wanted to explore the Alzheimer’s journey, the path’s that occur in such a story of real life. Tim Crouch always uses his own scripts which I find really amiable as it shows the truth behind his ideas of the subject as well as the research which has gone in to it. It was this idea of telling a story which has helped with what I believe will be the execution of my piece. I wish to perform 4 different pieces at the four destinations. As I go along I will falter with the memories, they will become shorter, parts will be missed out, the idea of forgetting will be made apparent. Lines will be snappier. With this in mind I will also do the same to the destinations and train callings, they will get shorter until the only thing called to the last place is ‘Durham’. No timing’s, no idea of where the train is calling apart from that place and no idea of platform. I never want to mention the word, memory is fine, forgetting is fine but Alzheimer’s I do not want to mention. I believe that the performance itself should allow the audience to understand what this piece is about and why this word never needs to be mentioned.

Timcrouchtheatre.co.uk. (2016). Tim Crouch Theatre. [online] Available at: http://www.timcrouchtheatre.co.uk/ [Accessed 15 Apr. 2016].