I have been considering my movement in my performance and the transition of me going into song.
what I have come up with is the idea of taking on the form of a chimpanzee… hold that thought:
I get called a ‘performing monkey’ – this is reflective of everyone in the audience aswell as me, as a physical representation of a monkey I hope to show that I speak for all of us
-In my summer office job, I turned up to a fancy job in the heart of the city, high up, window view. I was head of reception, on my own… my own desk, and big responsibilities for a big business. I HAD NO CLUE HOW OR WHY THEY CHOSE ME. I am an ape! a buffoon! I don’t know what im doing…. I turned up in a dungarees for goodness sake! but that was my role. and so, like training a monkey, I had this responsibility. which obviously meant, anything I got told went in one ear… and then I was looking out of the window at birds, distant smoke… thinking of song lyrics I could make up… I wrote a book on my life as I sat there… I painted my toe nails… I straightened my hair AT THE DESK… I ate… I played music. DISTRACTED. restricted. THE NEED TO BE ACTIVE.
With the monkey idea, (my strong point is physicality as we learned last week in the 3 hats) I want to project an ape, that enters the room, a spectacle of body physicality, and then the office scene enters and its the unknown. a monkey at a computer. hitting buttons that make noise. swirling around on the chair (which I did) putting boxes on my head (which I got caught doing)… we were all born as apes. and then we have developed so much into … this. this is now life. office work. and routine. NO NO. the noises created by the thrashing around of the monkey character begins the music before the spoken song kicks in.
I become more robotic. tames by the computer and the systems. representing how damaging this type of job is for creative minds with so much energy and talent. the routin becomes normal – I become more humanised, by technology, by overriding systems and basically a shit job. so – to escape it – the key board noises take me into a DREAM WORLD…
queue music (created by computer sounds and looping my voice – humming out of boredom etc – a wake up call, from myself to myself but also to the audience.
daydream – office – peoples voices – telling me not to – putting me down – then eventually I become a hard worker – then it’s a shame – im accomplishing shit – proud – new person – I tell co-workers off for dreaming –
*do a french mime act and bump into the wall you put there in your next character**
Stuck In The Middle With You – Stealers Wheel (2010)
ITS WEEK 4 AND WE’RE HALF-WAY THROUGH THE MODULE!…
Stuck in the middle with you (solo)… and i’m wondering what it is i should do… It’s so hard to keep a smile on my face (what with dissertation)… and with solo i’m all over the place!
But what a way to warm up today with our bodies to music! As i enter the room, Martin plays …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z1kRhiPE0E
The Streets “Weak Become Heroes” (2007)
We split the room into groups of four (ish) and had to connect our bodies through touch in some sort of way, and travel around the room to this music.
HELLO GLIMPSE OF HAPPINESS!!!!
The Streets, being a main influence to my performance, and what with the woes of dissertation bringing us all down and ideas for solo taking an unfortunate back seat, this was a wonderful way to inspire us all and let our minds and bodies just go with the flow, let loose and be free in the space.
Faye, Chris and I held hands and walked backwards in and out of each other, it was impossible not to laugh! And what it did was warm us all up and fill us with positive energy, a way to kick out the stresses of the current moment.
This task influenced me to consider my movements as we walked around the room. This kind of music is the style I want to incorporate into my own piece. As we walked I felt my posture develop – for example the ‘rude boy’ sound that elevated from the song naturally made my body react into a ‘geezer’ styled walk (arms swinging, chest raised, bop in the walk). I have a natural ability to move with music, and have always had keen interest in instruments and lyrics. I have always been very influenced and moved emotionally by music, and i love the fact that the streets approach real life topics of heart break, love, drugs, family etc. and accompany the topics with upbeat music.
The lead singer, Mike Skinner had some words of wisdom:
“Hip hop,(…) draws on different principles to other music. It’s not purely sonic pleasure: it’s conflict and action and story. It’s the old way of making records – which is rhythm and noise – combined with a little bit of The A-Team, and that’s exactly what I love about it …”
“with my opinions, and reacting the way I would react, just in a fictional situation. Apart from that, there’s nothing all that different about it – the songs are just songs, the beats are just beats”
” Music is kind of like my best friend – it’s probably the reason I didn’t go mad when I was a teenager, and it’s probably been the one constant since things have kicked off”
Mike Skinner – The Story of The Streets: “I need to become the right producer” (2012)
This interview sums up The Streets, and how Mike Skinner approaches negative topics, like suicide, heartbreak, life etc yet somehow it transpires to a positive. It also approaches the idea of story telling, and what spoke to me so much more was the knowledge of CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and this really hit home to me. Recently, i have been struggling when dealing with a few things that have happened in my life. What has been requested of me, is to receive CBT to help me cope. But like Skinner, music is my healer. It always has been, and my solo performance in general has been my escape. This has been my therapy. To get some of my worries, and turn them into a story for material to share with the world and turn into a positive. I want to challenge myself, to be real, vulnerable, open and honest and just tell a story.
Mike Skinner Interview with Laura Leishman (2014)
“I’ve made music that has been difficult for people to digest at times”
Of all of The Streets music i have been very moved and influenced by this song.
I like how the words link together, how clever the words come together. The theme of being ‘Puzzled’ and mentions of solving life as if it is a ‘crossword’,
‘loving isn’t easy you can’t google the solution to people’s feelings’
‘sometimes you have to find out for yourself, sometimes you never find the answer’
‘choosing to loose time instead of doing what i like to do’
TIM ETCHELLS
We had a look at some ‘TIM ETCHELLS – ON PERFORMANCE WRITING’ (Huxly, Noel, 1996)
This piece of writing focused on developing our ability to create text for our performances. At this stage, it seems most of us are strong with our ideas and concepts, yet we are struggle to make any relevant or entertaining material. What Etchells text taught us is that we are all probably thinking way too much into this. Like with the streets, They aren’t particularly saying anything strongly poetic or intelligent, it is just stories. It is mostly the way in which it is performed that makes it so magical. The words that we can all relate to, the everyday topics, conversations and situations.
This paper, ‘talks about writing words to be seen and read on stage rather than spoken. It talks about lists, about improvisation, about reading, about whispering ‘
It talks of how text can be key to performance but it does not have to be extremely well thought out. As it tells of how the company Forced Entertainment come up with text for their work, through lists, that can vary from
‘ A text of lines from half remembered songs’
‘A text for people to find in their wallet, days later, when you are forgotten’
(Huxly, Noel, 1996)
As a task, we have to create our own list, and perform it to the group.
I chose to do ‘THINGS TO BELIEVE IN’
This followed:
Santa Clause, The tooth fairy, hope, love, a dream, that your money to the homeless man is being spent on good things, the NHS, you, me, smoking kills, does it?, peace on earth, crystals for healing, religion, therapy to cure your mental health issues, mental health, am i? that doing well in school will benefit your future job prospects, angels, medicine, not having that last biscuit because that will be the reason you gain weight even after you’ve eaten the packet to yourself, that plastic surgery will make you look better, goggles, can i? diet coke is better for you, the apocalypse, is it? Social media is bad, contour, a cure for cancer, communication, pigs flying, herbal tea to cleanse your body, alcohol to numb the pain, will you? drugs to have a good time, kindness, 8 glasses of water a day….
The Streets “Weak Become Heroes” (2007) Youtube Video added by KRZYSZTOF KRYWALSKI Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z1kRhiPE0E
Stuck In The Middle With You – Stealers Wheel (2010) Youtube Video added by That 80’s Show! Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DohRa9lsx0Q
Mike Skinner Interview with Laura Leishman (2014) Youtube Video added by Laura Leishman Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZjsFXQNuEs
The lesson began with an improvised activity wherein we had to enter the room as if we were in an AA meeting. We introduced ourselves as characters on the spot, where Martin interrogated us for our stories and backgrounds and reasons for being here. He asked us to tell him our goals and what we are going to do to change our positions.
This task was so helpful for our imaginative exploration, the spontaneity of the task helped to not think too deeply into a character, it was just whatever came to us in that moment. What i found difficult however, was that an AA meeting is one all too close to home for me and my experiences. In turn, this helped me massively develop my own creative ideas. My concerns with the future, and daydreaming and keeping hopeful are always being effected by the amount of empathy i have as a person.
During this time, i had been struggling with coming to terms with my situation at home, my father, being an alcoholic who is receiving help. Unfortunately some awful things had been happening as a result of this that i had struggled dealing with. What this task reminded me, was that as much as this is at the back of my mind, acting/drama is something that i can use as an escape. And i never want to lose sight of that. I’m terrified of letting things affect me so much that
i lose sight of myself and my dreams and goals in life.
Which is what this had recently been doing to me- particularly with my dissertation. Without this being a focal point- i have considered mentioning how struggles in life can make you lose sight of yourself in my final piece. I want my final piece to be a message, that no matter what we face,
if you have talents, goals and dreams, don’t let them die.
3HATS
For the next task we had to bring 3 different hats into the lesson, and have a prepared stint of three different characters (represented by each hat).
I had a cap, for which i portrayed a boy- a ‘chavvy’ procrastinator, who was convincing the audience not to bother doing work, to stay up and get drunk with ‘me’.
I then moved to the middle chair and put on a ladies day hat, of which i played the part of My mums friend from work. I used verbatim, to tell the story of which she had said to me recently, upon giving advice on my dissertation. She is a Indian lady, so of course i adopted her accent and style of talking. Her soft voice, her movements, and the way she held herself. Of course this contrasted very much from the stance i took as a young male where i sat with legs spread, kissed my teeth, and held my posture as a male. For this character i sat upright, legs crossed and moved my arms as i spoke in a slow feminine manner.
My final character was of James Crawford- a friend and fellow student. I vamped up his personality, of hippie-type persona,
“peace and love maaaannn”
I represented his gangling features within my arm movements, and spoke of how
“i dont even worry about the future man you know, it is what it is, go with the flow, see the world, believe in yourself, travel man relax man its all good baby”
This task was so fun, yet taught me so much about crucial differences within characters and how one person can portray other people so simply. I noticed, when watching other people that it comes down to the simplest of things. tempo of voice, style of voice, the way you hold yourself etc. I learnt that i have a natural ability to imitate others well. I have been told that i do great impressions of others, and so i know that this talent is something i definitely want to incorporate into my final piece. It is so compelling to see others jump from one persona to another, just by simply holding themselves differently. The sheer power that comes from that style of acting i found brilliantly entertaining. No theatrics, just a simple hat that made all the difference. Even without an accessory, it showed to me that our bodies are our main accessory for acting. We do not need to rely on all the (as Tao put it) ‘decorative bullshit’ in order for something to be affective. What it actually does, is take it away from the actors talent, and within solo performances it is better to rely on thyself, as an open actor that isn’t trying to lure the audience into believing that the performer is a character. To dip in and out of characters is honest. Your body is the tool and i intend to be honest with my audience.
My feedback told me that it was interesting that i had the same narrative throughout, as it was the topic of dissertation that connected all the different characters together. It was a solid through line, and my classmates liked how they all had different views but the topic was the same.
So, like with the songs that have previously influenced me, i love the idea of having authoritative voices that come in and out of my performance, performed by me. I intend to include interruptions from these voices. For example, If my speech was to say
“i believe i can be an actress”
i imagine i could respond with questions like
“But darling you should really look into a job that is more reachable”
by just changing my tone.
At this stage i am still developing my ideas concerning an office setting, i imagine myself sitting at a desk daydreaming, wishing there was more. I want to come out of the real world and into my daydreams in the spoken word form. I like the idea of having authoritative voices that interject my daydreams, played by me. I have considered using a micophone to present this, where i can perform as my thoughts to the audience, and when another character interjects i will speak on the microphone to show this.
Considering staging, i have pictures office desks surrounding the stage, with desk lamps that i can go over to and turn on. when my face is lit underneath the light, i can portray that character that is sitting at that desk. This enables me to go in and out of character, and use the stage more. These ideas are still developing, and i have faced mind blocks lately of where to take this performance. I know what i want to say, but not yet how to make it into a show…
What is art?… baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more… Or perhaps, do in the case of performance art.
Marina Abramovic
I have explored the depths of Performance art and ‘Pain as performance’ as my topic for dissertation. I have undergone creating my own performance art works in the past years, exploring simplicity and the idea of everyday things as performances. To the extreme, i indulged myself into the exploration of physical pain and endurance for a performance called ‘LIMITE’ of which was very successful and very eye-opening. Now, i love performance art. But i have done it already. For this reason i want to steer away from what people may expect of me. I want to explore all kinds of performance styles with the chance i have, but using my experiences from my study and practice of the works of Marina Abramovic, Orlan and Kira O Reilly. I want to explore the body as site for performance, but i want to combine all elements of music, poetry and theatrics with this- instead of keeping the two separate.
Abramovic is somebody of which I have always been influenced and inspired by. The work we looked at including her performances such as rhythm 5. and rhythm 0 are works I have admired for many years. I feel personally compelled by her willingness to go to such limits of performance, and her ability to use performance art in a way that explores the body and pain as representation for society. Her performances challenge the audience to think, be shocked, and in some cases like that of ‘rhythm 0’ and ‘the artist is present’ she invites the audience to be a part of the performance.
Marina Abramović: Advice to the Young (2013)
How do you know if you are an artist?
Am i good enough to venture into spoken song? This is something i have never openly done…
I took some advice from Abramovic herself, noting that she too went from performance art and site specific performances to theatre.
‘If you wake up in the morning and you have some ideas and (…) it becomes almost an obsession (…) you have to create (…) you’re definetely an artist but you’re not a great artist you’re just an artist. To be a great artist there’s all different types of rules, and you really have to… it’s like you’re obsessed… it’s like there’s nothing else on your mind (…) it’s the complexity and intensity you put into your work and also the great artist has to be ready to fail (…) the real artist always changes their territories and they go to the land they’ve never been. (…) Ready to fail, that makes a great artist.’
(Marina Abramovic- Advice to the young (2013)
Spalding Gray
‘As careers in the theatre go, talking about yourself was one of the more improbable ways to make a living until Gray (1941-2004) honed it to a fine art.’ (Young, 2012)
Spalding Gray Segment From Swimming To Cambodia (On Cold War Soldier) (2012)
“I like telling the story of my life better than I do living it.”
THE ART OF STORY TELLING
Gray is a solo performer known widely for his ability to tell stories. When exploring him in depth as a class, it was clear that he had a raw talent to perform stories, voices and characters by himself. Gray uses minimal set, costume and lights, yet we become captured within his performance alone. It is through his ability to multi-role, his eye contact and his general manner of performing that i have studied and noted as pointers within my own performance. I love his quote, stated above. It is something of which my piece can relate with, wherein i enjoy telling of how i am scared but still hopeful of the future, yet it terrifies me to be in it! The unknowing, the uncertainty. I enjoy the way that Gray tells his story, with solid eye contact and it is as if there’s no thought going into his words. He does not have to remember what was said, it is just like a quick retelling, a sort of offloading of his day. Almost as if he is a lifeless body that just tells a story, his body and mind is the tool for transferring a story to us. He isn’t wasting time imitating other people through an abundance of body language, costumes or even really variating his voice at all. This is intriguing, and also something i found works ironically well in certain performances. A graduate within our uni was very successful within his solo performance as he played Margaret Thatcher, yet kept the same Yorkshire male accent that he had, whilst dressed entirely as her. (Callum West, Solo Performance 2015)
I am beginning to realise at this stage that simple is effective. Gray simply tells his story.
What i can link his work to is the style within ‘With a Little Bit of Luck‘, when Sabrina Mahfouz tells her story, even with the accompaniment of live music and lights she simply stands and delivers her story to the audience. It is the notion of music and staging as an accompaniment to her performance, and not the other way around that i want to achieve. I do not want my set or costume and music to distract from the words in any way.
“Actor Spalding Gray has a way with words. Especially in the spoken form he’s made famous: monologues delivered in direct personal address to a live audience. Intelligent, funny and disarmingly confessional, he sits at a table with only a glass of water and his outline of key words, ports-of-call in his freewheeling, autobiographical odysseys that strike resonant chords of cultural anxiety in his listeners”(Brandes, 1992)
Matt Chewiwie’s Artist Statement (2008)
Upon watching this video i was influenced by Matt Chewiwie’s love for life, his optimism and his ability and need to make people laugh.
“I’m not trying to tell anyone how or what to think or trying to tackle any type of big political or heavy issues”
I really admire the fact that Chewiwie’s work administers a degree of metaphor, and leaves the audience with a lesson or feeling towards life and that is, not to take it as seriously. He does this, without actually telling the audience or viewer directly to do that.
References:
Marina Ambramovic – Advice to the young (2013) Youtube Video added by Louisiana Channel. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ck2q3YgRlY
Matt Chewiwie’s Artist Statement (2008) Youtube Video added by Matt Chewiwie. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yJPZfFOrsc
Spalding Gray Segment From Swimming to Cambodia (On Cols War Soldier) (2012) Youtube Video added by Videowave Music. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YcVey0vQ9w
As i enter this module, i am filled with excitement and hope!
I have a real chance here to advocate my talent. I recall my A-level performance (a while back and yet) it is still my fondest memory of acting that i have. I performed ‘Silv’s Longing Speech’ from Berkoff’s ‘East‘ and grabbed the opportunity by the big metaphorically mimed ‘snarling beasty’ (Berkoff, ‘Silvs Longing Speech’, 1975). What enthralled me most was my ability to mimic other voices, jumping from the character of silv to that of the male companion ‘Les’. With everything i have learnt four years on, i am excited to explore this in a deeper depth, creating my own material that should be reflective of the skills i have harnessed since developing from that point onwards.
Distractions. Dreams. Goals. Routines.
At this stage in the process of forming a solo performance I have an abundance of ideas. As I reflected to my class members in our first session together through practical exercises, I am a dreamer. As a group, we introduced ourselves as solo performers by presenting a short story about ourselves. Now this task i instantly found challenging because when left to just think about things my mind becomes a wanderer.
Dion- The wanderer (2009)
This song came into my mind during the five minutes we had to escape the space and think of a prepared story… of which, it soon became time to go back in and perform. So, i decided that this in itself should be my story to tell.
I am so present, but my mind never ever is. It is over consumed with worries. They can go from the darkest worries that consume my life. Those vary from family experiences, heartache, pain, fear, regret and all the bad things that have collected a hefty messy pile in my life. However distracting these things are, I always think about the fact that I am here. I am present. This is life. Experiences. Sometimes this world sucks… so I go to my own. I described my mind as a vortex to my class members. We can play word association games in drama warm-ups and my response will be something almost impossible to relate in any way. But to me, my mind would’ve worked in 2.0 seconds to associate coconuts to bats and then ill be off thinking about where bats live, like the scene in ace ventura.. in the cave.. the wachuti tribe… how i’ve never seen wild bats… but I love wildlife.. how I want to live in a cave, how I want to travel, how I want to live off the land, be at one with nature, venture, ramble, feed my soul… how can I get there? I have so much that stops me. Money – Family – Relationships… opportunities that come easy for others don’t for me and this is forever something that supresses my dreams. You can establish at this point my ability to rant, ramble on and get passionate about all of this stuff.
my intention however, is not to complain, ever. Nor to present a piece of work reflecting the restrictions of my life but the energy and passion I maintain to keep positive that I will make it. Uni is ending. Three years over, the three years away from worries and home life, where I could constantly channel my talent, producing and progressing everyday. Then when it is over… what? Now there is extreme pressure on me to succeed, because simply I do not want to return home or to a life like that of my father. Nor do I want to lose myself and my imaginative talent because of those worries and stresses that unfortunately I am faced with when I return home. I know I cannot be in an office job. Lets just say I was a born wanderer. I am of hippie nature, I must be, a gypsy. I despise what society is, social networking, lack of communication, relationships, manners, love and I have a constant need to be surrounded by nature, everything takes my breath away. The simplest things. BUT in no way does the current world we live in..
I digress, but to include my feelings helps me make a form of what it is I really want to represent. That is, ultimately
the fear of life.
Adulthood. Working life. Fears of which we all have. Mine personally may be more extreme because the fear of life is enhanced by my personal experiences and my personal woes yet, this is relatable to everybody right now. Especially to my fellow drama students who all stand strong with
creative minds
that I know none of us wish to let go to waste. I think it is awfully important to produce a show that has a strong
audience/performer relationship.
I Feel if I can connect on this same level I can make an enjoyable, bittersweet performance,
highlighting the worries but maintaining the hope.
so here goes. at this early stage my ideas have been influenced by a performance I saw called ‘with a little bit of luck’ at the LPAC last year
(With a Little Bit Of Luck, 2016).
This performance took garage music from the 90’s, performed live, with one actor telling a story about her life and as each event happened, a new song that had extremely relevant lyrics would accompany her talking. For example, the song ‘with a little bit of luck we can make it through the night’ – this was played as she described her boyfriend and her being in a club and him trying to get away with having drugs on him. I was really inspired by the way her story was told. It was raw. It was relatable. The songs too added so much to expressing the feelings that she was demonstrating. She was poetic, almost talking in a slow rap style.
I have always been a fan of music that incorporates different styles. Plan B for example, describes a lot of his stories, very cleverly, through talking over music and a short chorus of song. I was always indulged into his style of rap, and the different approach to accompanying that kind of story telling with slow music, country style / acoustic guitar. It wasn’t just rap, it wasn’t aggressive, it was melancholy, and I loved it. I enjoy the poetic aspect of this.
Charmaine – Plan B (2009)
I then recently heard a song by Mahalia called ‘Back Up Plan’. The song begins with just one piano chord slowly repeated and her voice talking ‘teachers used to say, what do you want to be. Everytime shed say singer they all look at her blankely like; ‘Darling, darling.. you need to have a back up plan.’ …like what? she said. working in Matalan? well, actually miss, ive already applied..’ -this song is autobiographical and she goes from being herself, to herself at school, and to playing the teacher. I was so engulfed by this type of spoken song. The chorus ‘This don’t matter to me, soon i’ll be on tv, and I wont, have to dream no more. This aint got nothing on me, soon i’ll be VIP ill be making money, being a G, going properly’.
Mahalia – Back Up Plan – #DiaryOfMe (2016)
I then heard another song called ‘Breakthrough’ – By Trwbador feat. Essa. It begins with the sound of a harp. Then a soft womens voice, choral, singing ‘getting by’ and then a deep fast rap accompanies this. It talks about graduating, tripping on the curb, getting back up, wanting to get away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qvtT_7XW0s
TRWBADOR feat. ESSA – Breakthrough (2014)
My idea then…
I imagine an office setting. Myself in a routine. Perhaps typing something specific and learnt for the job role. Perhaps I begin to make music with the keyboard or my pen. it begins a daydream. I do not want to be there. This addresses control in society, identity and the work place. I am there because I need money but this is not my life. This is bad for me. My mind is elsewhere. So, the music in someway comes in and out and I poetically perform a spoken song out loud about my dreams. Where I really want to be. My inner monologue. The thoughts that are going on whilst I sit there doing something I don’t want to be doing.
References:
Dion – The Wanderer ( Alternate Stereo Verison ) (2009) Youtube video added by robin haugsnes [online] Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tX3AnKiYb0
Mahalia Back Up Plan – #DiaryOfMe (2016) Youtube Video added by Mahalia [online] Available https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUMdRQsULmg
Silv’s Longing Speech, East By Steven Berkoff, (1975)
Plan B – Charmaine (2009) Youtube Video added by ImComa [online] Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPAFvnxfGYI
TRWBADOR feat. ESSA – Breakthrough (2014) Youtube Video added by owletmusic [online] Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qvtT_7XW0s
With A Little Bit of Luck by Sabrina Mahfouz (2016) – Teaser Trailer | Paines Plough (2016) Youtube Video added by Paines Plough [online] Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_PpevR5KQI
