Last autumn I joined a theatre group.
In the past I’ve worked with dancers to combine sculptures, choreography and movement. This year, I wanted to hone in on sculpture and performance. I invited several people involved in theatre to an exhibition I held called ‘Conversations, Sculptures and Spaces’. We chatted about possibilities of using my work in performances, for example working with groups to stage impromptu or improvised “sculptural events” in various locations.
My ideas really resonated with Richard Spaul, artistic director of Cambridge based theatre group in situ:. This year in situ: were running acting courses focusing on Greek Theatre, culminating in an outdoor performance at Wandlebury Country Park. Richard invited me to be this year’s artist in residence. Since then, working with the company gave me the opportunity to explore how my art may sit within theatre, as well as expanding my understanding of how people respond and interact with my sculptures. I also joined the group as an actor! I‘ve been intrigued to revisit my interests in classics and drama, which I studied in university.
Course leader and Artistic Director Richard Spaul explains: “We’re keen for everyone to learn about Greek Tragedy and how to perform it… that said, our main aim is simply to build enthusiasm and excitement for the art of acting.” Richard himself is an inspiring actor, director as well as teacher.
REHEARSALS
Since autumn, we’ve been working together on Monday evenings.
At first we worked without objects, concentrating on ideas of devising and theatre games and explorations. We worked with fragments of texts from Greek tragedies, but each week explored different ways of approaching and engaging with it. In each session, Richard introduced a different idea or focus, for example, finding characters through breath or body work, creating a still ‘tableau’ of a particular scene. I was especially interested in our work with relationships between the protagonist and the chorus, presenting a central character and a corresponding body of commentary or reflection. We experimented a lot with moving together as a group, finding ways to mirror each other both physically and emotionally without actually looking at the leading actor. Richard creates a brave, exploratory space to transcend any inhibitions about using the body to express. I’m fascinated to see crossovers between performance devising and studio experimentation, and as well, the parallels between facilitating art activities, and teaching acting and dramatic expression, both helping people to explore creativity through daring experimentation, no matter their experience.
“We start with games to help us learn to concentrate, cooperate and work as a group… we might focus on physiology, body language, voice… explore the mental and the emotional… create and perform characters… work with learned text… improvise from scratch… be asked to act within boundaries such as a tiny square space… use a single text in many different scenes with different people with different groups, and with different meanings…watch each other perform then develop a creative response to what we’ve seen and heard.”
Towards the end of the first term, I introduced a range of sculptures into the rehearsal space. I explained to participants that the objects were not to be regarded as props or sets, but invited them to regard the sculptures as fellow actors. Each sculptural element has its own presence which is both physical as well as metaphorical, and the object plays a role and shifts meaning within the performance space. The frames could be stacked, laid on their side, stood upon, passed around, traversed through… The spikes might become lines of division, or create soundscapes. The actors responded viscerally to the plaster boulders, lying on the ground with them, fitting themselves to them, or having the physical object almost become an ambiguous source of conflict being exchanged between actors. The sculptures became a prompt for taking dramatic expression in a novel direction. Objects were placed about the space, lifted in the air, or arranged together to create a strange landscape. Some of the actors have been working with the company for many years. They are fearless in their experimentation and expressive abilities, willing to push the boundaries of any suggestions the lead may give and moving beyond them.
SITE EXPLORATION
In February we did an initial site exploration for sculptural events at Wandlebury Country Park.
At this point we had not made any decisions on what sort of sculptures to use or indeed how they would tie in to the final performance. Instead, I needed to understand how different forms, shapes and colours would read in the natural environment. Which objects would disappear into the foliage and which would have visual impact? I loaded up my van with a range of sculptures, met a group of actors in the car park, and the assembled troupe carried the objects through the woods to the hill where we will perform. By this time we were all familiar working together as actors and with the objects, so it was quite fun to direct both within the woods. The weather was an interesting variable in this new environment. I’d wrapped some of the objects in plastic to keep them from rusting, and created a set of lightweight and portable objects. The weight was important, as the lightness allowed them to be balanced and stacked in a much more dramatic and spacious ways, allowing actors actors to build towering and expansive pieces that took up more space.
Studio discussion
The next stage was a discussion with Richard about which elements would best support the in situ: performance in June.
Richard and I wanted to use something simple and workable that would still contribute creatively to the salient ideas of the overall work. We settled on the white plaster boulders. The previous ones I had used were not robust enough to withstand an outdoor rehearsals and performances, so I experimented with a new and hardier construction. Stacked or scattered, the white boulders stand out in the natural environment, their bony, rounded forms simultaneously expressive and indeterminate.
Following this performance I’ll start working towards my September exhibition ‘Trespass.’ I have ideas of creating temporary sculptures in diverse spaces. Perhaps I’ll gather a new set of participants to move with objects, travelling like troubadours or itinerant Shakespearian actors, creating wandering narratives in urban and natural environments.
euripedes: the bacchae
Wormwood Hill, Wandlebury Country Park, Cambridge
Wednesday 19 - Saturday 22 June, 2024