MRP idea

For my major research project I want to start looking at the use and representation of certain animals within design, books and film. I wish to start looking into what animals can represent and why the author etc deiced to use those animals to represent parts of there story, I will look into their use on stage and how they are portrayed and what this says about what they signify.

Ive started to look at:
Animal farm-George Orwell
The Raven-Edgar Allan Poe
Cunning little vixen opera
Signifier's and semiotics

Ive looked at these books:
Human Zoo-Desmond Morris
Theatre as a sign system-Elaine Aston and George Savona
Uses of Enchantment-Bruno Bettelheim
Man and his symbol-Carl Jung

I'm looking into why they might have chosen to represent a part of the story with animals and what type of animal they chose to represent that. I want to start looking into our relationship with certain types of animals and what we understand animal to represent and what they may signify to us.

Propaganda swing

Director: Hamish Glen
Writer: Peter Arnott
Designer: Libby Watson

Based on true stories and real people Propaganda swing is a story and political satire that takes a look at a chapter of history set on Germany and the use of swing jazz as propaganda.

It tells the story through the eyes of Billy Constant who is an American journalist in Berlin.

It is based on the forbidden jazz music that Nazis banned from the radio stations and the 'underground' scene of the people that love that music, when they get the chance to play the music they grab the chance but the words have been changed and it is a propaganda mechanism to keep the british indoors listening to the radio.

I really liked the set up, the whole piece was designed to read like a radio show. The piece was cleverly put together it was essentially a radio show that Billy was broadcasting telling about his time in Berlin, the music was well interjected with moments he observed and inner thoughts of the time. I think the story was well told and the music was cleverly involved into the story, i found however that the use of language was a bit confusing in places because there were moments that we were supposed to believe that they were singing in German even though they were singing in english for us to understand the words.

Overall i found the design worked with the setting it was trying to achieve and the music fit in well with the style of the story.

Everyday sexism project update

Our aim is to interview people about their experiences and views on sexism to then transcribe them and edit them into a verbatim play that we will perform using puppets. We have begun talking to people and carrying out a few interviews and discussions and we are also contacting societies within university to further this research and to be able to talk to more people.
We are doing this by contacting the societies through Facebook and possibly through email to find out who might interested to get involved and we can then arrange a time to meet to be able to talk to them under appropriate conditions rather than approaching people in the street because we feel this will produce better outcomes.

We are also looking through the everyday sexism book and blog to gather some stories that stand out to us to use if we find that time restraints become an issue and we need to start constructing these is a narrative. I have contacted Laura Bates that is in charge of the project to find out if she would like offer her help and allow us to use the existing stories.

Our group has also decided to contact student services and whether they are able to give us any help in case there are any issues that arise that we need to refer people to their services to able to help the participants.

So far we have contacted:
Laura Bates
Student services
Societies (overall email that can contact individual societies from there)
Individual societies on Facebook

Regeneration

   
Written by Pat Baker
Adapted by Nicholas Wright
Directed by Simon Godwin
Designed by Alex Eales

this play is based on a trilogy of books by Pat Baker they follow the stories of many patients at a hospital during the war. Most of the patientsbare those suffering from psychological damage such as shell shock. I found the characters very lling and a refreshing take on what the soldiers would have suffered at such a time.

 the characters are very well acted and scripted they have really interesting story lines that you enjoy watching playout.

The set was interesting it was set to look like a mental hospital of the time,it was cleverly put together however i found that it jarred a little bit it seemed like a very painted set rather than a location. The scene changes were well done but seemed very quick in places and didnt seem to flow in parts.

Overall i enjoyed the play the storyline was enjoyable and i feel i want to find out more about them, the directing acting and scenery were well put together and the scenery fit the story.

Jack and the flum flum tree!!

LAD culture and sexism articles

As a starting point for this project i decided to start looking at what information there was online about acts against sexism and the topic of LAD culture.

Articles found about LAD culture:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-29176844

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10657789/Sexist-lad-culture-can-British-universities-ever-get-rid-of-it.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/student/student-life/lad-culture-is-a-black-mark-on-university-life-8340529.html

Alot of Lad culture seems to be mainly built up with in uni, alot of girls experience sexist comments whilst attending uni and also may be involved in initiations pranks that sometimes end in compromising photos being post on facebook groups such as ladbible.

Laddish behaviour leads to alot of girls being uncomfortable on campus and feeling pressured into taking part in alot of the games or just not feeling able to approach anyone about trying to tackle the topic.

Articles about sexism:
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/oct/08/freshers-students-sing-necrophiliac-sexist-violent-chant

http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/helen-lewis-hasteley/2011/11/comments-rape-abuse-women

The subjects that have arisen from reading some of these articles are that woman are made to feel that it is common place for men to say the things they do and that its part of being a student.

Verbatim

 A video from the National Theatre showing an introduction to verbatim theatre:
http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/video/an-introduction-to-verbatim-theatre

Alecky Blythes website with her company recorded delivery.
http://www.recordeddelivery.net/

'Alecky Blythe has pioneered the innovative verbatim technique, originally created by Anna Deavere Smith. Deavere Smith was the first to combine the journalistic technique of interviewing her subjects with the art of interpreting their words through performance.
The technique involves recording interviews from real life and editing them into a desired structure. The edited recordings are played live to the actors through earphones during the rehearsal process, and on stage in performance. The actors listen to the audio and repeat what they hear. They copy not just the words but exactly the way in which they were first spoken. Every cough, stutter and hesitation is reproduced. The actors do not learn the lines at any point. By listening to the audio during performances the actors remain accurate to the original recordings, rather than slipping into their own patterns of speech.'

This is a similar technique that we will hopefully use in our piece, instead of having earpieces we are going to transcribe the interviews that we will carry out.

http://www.ideastap.com/IdeasMag/the-knowledge/alecky-blythe-london-road-on-verbatim-theatre

This is a very useful article about Alecky Blythes technique she explains her approach in carrying out the interviews and how you can make yourself seem approachable and that people will be happy to talk to you and share their story.

Time and the Conways

          TIME AND THE CONWAYS
                Writer: :J B Priestly
              Director: Fiona Buffini
            Designer: Madeleine Girling

We follow the story of a family called the Conways, the first part centers around a gathering that the family is hosting and portrays one of the family's party games they have carried out since the children were little.

The next part takes place 20 years in the future showing where the members of the family are now and how their lives have changed since the first time we saw them.

The final part shows them back at the party and it seems that one of the children seems to have seen the future section and remembers details.

I really enjoyed this performance, the acting directing and design was all very well done. The play is based on a book by J B Priestly and is one of his 'time' stories. Having enjoyed one of his books before i was looking forward to seeing this piece but did not know much about it. I really enjoyed how well the design fit the story and how adaptable it was, the story was gripping and had you willing the characters see what they were doing to each other.

I love how the ending is left open and we do not know whether the character that remembers the part of the future decides to make changes about her family and whether she decides to say anything. I like the possibility that she doesnt because she can choose to change her own course of action but it almost says that the way we are doesnt change we can only change our point of view about events that happen.

Nottingham Playhouse Prize

The Nottingham playhouse prize is an opportunity to design for the playhouse and to work with a director and production manager.

We would be working with Fiona Buffini on the play Duchess of Malfi which is a Jacobean play written in 1612 designed for indoor theatre.

The play has alot of themes that are very relevant today so is a play that has been designed many times and still relevant to audiences of now.

There are four main characters involved: the Duchess, Ferdinand, The cardinal and Bossela.
The Duchess of Malfi promises to her brothers (the Cardinal and Ferdinand) that she not marry again, however she is in love with her steward Antonio who she marrys and has a child by in secret.

Ferdinand is in love with his sister the Duchess so sets about putting a spy (Bossela) in the court to establish who she has married.

The play revolves around the corruption of the brothers and their attempt to control their sister. Dark play written to be more of an adult play full of corruption, sex and power.

Michael Eaton

All schools should be art schools

Performed 13th January
Located in the Castle Long gallery
Directed by Martin Berry
Written by Michael Eaton

It is a project based on the history of the art school and will be a serious of plays based on major parts of the history and the important people involved.

Part one-set in 1845 about Joseph Hamesley
Part two- art school in waverly- a parody
Part three- celebration of Dame Laura Knights work
Part four- about Joseph Else
Part five- set in the 60's
Part six- unwritten

Needs set designers and costume designer to get involved as well as many people across the school of art as possible.

Dinis Machado Dance 4 project

On the 6th Oct Dinis Machado comes to Nottingham to start a workshop on his next Dance 4 project. The new project is a dance piece that involves 4 dancers and the audience will sit around the space so that they will have to move amonst the audience.

The dance piece is made up of abstract movements that narrates a story about a group of people and an hour in their life, the cycle repeats and the dancers change their movements to how they feel ad how their clothes change throughout the performance. Dinis aims to design the costume to belong to the actor and be a part of them but be a sort of imitation.
The clothes themselves will be abstract and the dancers will change clothes with each other but there may be parts of the piece where the dancers are wearing the same clothes or imitations of each other so seems like two of the same people in the piece.

There will be a lighting mobile above the audience and the performers so it then lights everyone but will constantly be moving so creating shadows and light patches in different parts of the performance.

This piece involves two impaired dancers but the movement has not been adapted tp them from previously devised choreography, it has been devised by them because they have been part of the project from the beginning.There are alot of rehearsals but none of the movements have been fixed and they may change throughout the performance or be interpretations of previous movements. The movements are based on abstract thoughts so each performer can interpret it in different ways.