My work-station in Aberystwyth Arts Centre's Performance Studio, which I occupied 9am-3:30pm Monday-Friday last week.
Here's a weird thing: all the things that hold you back in a collaborative creative environment; all the shame and fear and guilt and etc. that prevents honest and adventurous improvisation and exploration in a room full of people? ALL those things are still there when it's just you, alone.
Making this show is a process of *learning how* to make a show as much as it is a process of making a show, if that makes sense? I've spoken to people who've made shows solo before, and all the advice I've had boils down to the only way to find out how to do it is to do it. No-one's artistic process is identical to another's. I've magpied things other people do, kept some of the tools I've been given by teachers and mentors, made some things up, but I'm really still figuring it all out.
As such, this week turned out pretty differently than I planned it!
My original idea was to have a "rough draft" of 20 minute of Performance ready for Friday, to show to some friends and BOY was that a ridiculous target for the end of a first week. I spent a lot of time in the first couple of days trying to hammer things into a performable shape, becoming increasingly disheartened, and eventually decided that I had to change it up: I was much happier writing and speaking and moving when the oppressive TWENTY MINUTES BY FRIDAY LUNCHTIME deadline was gone, I feel like it really freed me up to just generate some ideas. And that's what I did. I did invite friends into the space, but only to chat about the work and it's themes. My relationship to it, and theirs.
I'm pretty proud of what I got out of the week; a proper breakdown of the personal narrative, dozens of little fragments of scenes, thousands of words of writing, a neck injury, a detailed and productive plan of action for these three weeks before the second week of Devising at the end of February.
Here's a weird thing: as my plan for this week rationalised and consolidated (shrank, basically) my plan for the second week was able to flex and grow: An actual experience of working solo for an extended period provided me with enough sensory information to know what I need to do to make what I want to happen happen next time.
Learning and all that, innit.
Here's a weird thing: all the things that hold you back in a collaborative creative environment; all the shame and fear and guilt and etc. that prevents honest and adventurous improvisation and exploration in a room full of people? ALL those things are still there when it's just you, alone.
Making this show is a process of *learning how* to make a show as much as it is a process of making a show, if that makes sense? I've spoken to people who've made shows solo before, and all the advice I've had boils down to the only way to find out how to do it is to do it. No-one's artistic process is identical to another's. I've magpied things other people do, kept some of the tools I've been given by teachers and mentors, made some things up, but I'm really still figuring it all out.
As such, this week turned out pretty differently than I planned it!
My original idea was to have a "rough draft" of 20 minute of Performance ready for Friday, to show to some friends and BOY was that a ridiculous target for the end of a first week. I spent a lot of time in the first couple of days trying to hammer things into a performable shape, becoming increasingly disheartened, and eventually decided that I had to change it up: I was much happier writing and speaking and moving when the oppressive TWENTY MINUTES BY FRIDAY LUNCHTIME deadline was gone, I feel like it really freed me up to just generate some ideas. And that's what I did. I did invite friends into the space, but only to chat about the work and it's themes. My relationship to it, and theirs.
I'm pretty proud of what I got out of the week; a proper breakdown of the personal narrative, dozens of little fragments of scenes, thousands of words of writing, a neck injury, a detailed and productive plan of action for these three weeks before the second week of Devising at the end of February.
Here's a weird thing: as my plan for this week rationalised and consolidated (shrank, basically) my plan for the second week was able to flex and grow: An actual experience of working solo for an extended period provided me with enough sensory information to know what I need to do to make what I want to happen happen next time.
Learning and all that, innit.