Media

Performance styles.

Shannon Turnbull

Now that I had my stimulus material for a performance, the hard graft was about to start. I needed to come up with a performance that would express my personality, my experiences and my feelings as well as performing a piece applicable to the audience themselves.

Looking at different practitioners helped in my understanding of how Solo Performance can vary. Some performers were autobiographical, some expressed their material through music and song, others were using the human body to convey their stories.

I researched into Spalding Gray and his production of Swimming to Cambodia. This performance would be entirely made up of Gray’s own personal experiences when travelling in Cambodia communicated via a lengthy, stimulating monologue. “It might be asserted that in some cases the monologue form is ‘essential’ story-telling, a stripping away of dramatic illusion” (Wallace 1999, p.6). Having the ability to perform what is in essence and looks like  a ‘stream of consciousness’ is something I wanted to explore, however my life experiences are interesting enough to captivate audiences attentions for a lengthy period of time. It wasn’t about the stories I guess, it was the way in which I could embody and illustrate them that would be entertaining. Spalding Gray “wanted to explore ‘the other inside of [himself], the constant witness, the constant consciousness” (Terry 2005, p.3), the weariness of himself and his actions through trying to capture a ‘perfect moment’ was the leading through-line to his performance. Seen as a confessional performance style, Solo Performance enables whatever may be happening privately in your life to become public and of knowledge. However Gray had the capability to focus his audience on the rhythm of his prose, he didn’t need an extreme set, just a desk, a book and his voice.

Solo Performance to me, captures two degrees of a person. The performing body; there to entertain as a object of gratification but also as a personal body; the way in which personal stories are used and how they have an individual way of telling them. Gray comments that he “begins to wonder if in the act of confessing his ‘real’ self, he is not subjecting the ‘real’ to regulation by the expectations of the audience” (cited in Terry 2005, p.53). There is an integral step to Solo Performance that invites an exaggerated truth. However whatever exaggerations Gray might put into his stories they are also based on essential truths about him.

My performance will ultimately be a monologue but I would to like to refrain from Spalding’s position. I will incorporate movement and try to embody/react to my stories and the emotions that come with them.

Laurie Anderson was an experimental artist that explored different technological ways to present her work. Through song, lyrics, rhythm, tone, visual projections, her work was conveyed artistically and interestingly. Although her work does not convey autobiographical stories from the outset, her preferred medium of technology infuses her stories.

 

 

WORKS CITED:

Anderson, Laurie (1981) O Superman, Online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VIqA3i2zQw (accessed 29th April 2013).

Gray, Spalding (1985) Swimming to Cambodia – Part 1, Online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCGmra0eFQk (accessed 29th April 2013).

Terry, David Price (2005) ‘Spalding Gray and the Slippery Slope of Confessional Performance’, A Master Thesis, USA: The Department of Communication Studies, Louisiana State University.

Wallace, Clare (1999) Monologue Theatre, Solo Performance and Self as Spectacle, Online: http://litteraria.ff.cuni.cz/books/extracts/monologues_intro.pdf (accessed 29th April 2013).

 

Long time, no blog!

Shannon Turnbull

Apologies for not blogging in a while, things have been a little turbulent on the Solo Performance front. After going back to the drawing board, it became very difficult to search for new ideas. I wanted to take my work towards non-autobiographical material but was otherwise advised to stay with myself, my thoughts and my experiences. I therefore felt it necessary to look for things that attracted me rather than waiting for something to happen. I mean I already have my past life experiences but I needed a concrete stage for conveying them.

I started to look at videos and images that I may feel a connection too. I wanted to take my performance from stimulus material, use that as an influence and perform in my own way. I came across the English artist Banksy and started to look at his politically driven graffiti sprawled across the streets of Bristol. His work intrigued me as his images created a subtext, a truth and a striking image all in one picture. Banksy has dealt with an array of political and social issues including anti-war, anti-capitalism, poverty, alienation, hypocrisy and despair. These images fascinated me and although not a Solo Performance in itself, this art would stem from something he felt passionate about.

This one was one of my favourites! Just a normal maid employed by the high class elite people, just sweeping things under the carpet.. just like in reality!
This one was one of my favourites! A normal maid employed by the high class elite people, sweeping things under the carpet.. a true reflection of society!
This picture struck me hard as it shows the difference in the world. A starving young child holding hands with two famous consumer products. Disneyland and Macdonalds..
This picture struck me hard as it shows the difference in the world. A starving young child holding hands with two famous consumer products. Disneyland and Macdonalds..
I love this as it shows that homosexuality is natural and it doesn't matter who you are or what profession you are in. Being men of the law doesn't matter as you are a human first and foremost.
I love this as it shows that homosexuality is natural and it doesn’t matter who you are or what profession you are in. Being men of the law doesn’t matter as you are a human first and foremost.
Shopping till you drop, the fact that the world is in poverty and we are becomes passive consumers, doesn't stop the ignorant people who contribute to it.
Shopping till you drop, the fact that the world is in poverty and we are passive consumers, doesn’t stop the ignorant people who contribute to it.

The one picture that stood out most for me was one of a young girl, dressed head to toe in black and white reaching out/letting go of a red balloon. I felt a connection to this young girl and wanted to explore why.. I took the picture along with me to class and asked my fellow students what they thought when confronted with it. I got mixed reactions but all felt connected in some way. Some said that the image was metaphorical for loss whilst others said it was for gain. I decided to draw upon my own conclusions and use this as a stimulus for my performance.

There is always hope.
There is always hope.

My perception of this image was of a small timid girl in a world of confusion losing something that was dear to her. This struck me in my personal life as I have experienced loss of a huge amount. From family members to love, to losing myself and losing what I felt was right. This little girl had lost her balloon and I felt like she would do everything in her power to get it back. However I also felt a strong sense of freedom, contentment and happiness. She wasn’t losing her balloon, she let it go. She decided that she didn’t need it anymore and wanted someone else to experience what fun she had. Letting go was something I wanted to look at in my performances especially from an autobiographical perspective. I had gained something in my life that has made me who I am and ‘there is always hope’ stood out for me. No matter what way you would look at this image, to me happiness is there. Whether you let go of something or it flies away without you approval, it has happened and even though there is no way of getting it back.. there is always hope!

 

WORKS CITED:

All images from Google Images. Online:https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=banksy+art&biw=1366&bih=624&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=-WR-UYH_KcST0AWA8YDQAg#imgrc=_ (accessed: 29th April 2013).

Meaningful media..

Shannon Turnbull

What strikes me about Solo Performance is the range of media outlets and techniques you can use. Solo is about the self yet by working correctly with technology to create an atmosphere difficult to achieve by just human interaction, it infuses a piece in a way that becomes mesmerizing. It would be difficult to create something on this level but Avatar incorporate basic technological aspects to sustain audience attention and showcase potential as a Solo Performer.

 

I enjoy watching this piece and appreciate how her bodily movement connects to the projections behind her. This must have taken time and many rehearsals to establish her intentions. It is a promotional video so to sell Solo Performance like this is brilliant. Balancing heavy body movement, large and colourful projections along with the dark silhouettes which also embody the space, inspires me into wanting to embody my dialogue and physicality in my performing. 

There is an aspect of story-telling within this video, when discussing the cultural strain and strong reliability on social-networking sites in the modern day which in turn is communicated through different projections of various websites in the background and lines of speech overlapping the visual. This makes clear that media can help with the story-telling and by allowing yourself to embody and work with and for projections, it may help to clarify your piece and make for entertainment with the audience.

I would like to use media in my performance but not to this extent. I don’t want my whole performance to rely solely on media and projections, however I would like to have home video’s play in the background to set the scene, agenda and tone of my piece and respond to them in my dialogue. I would still embody space and create a bold connection to what is being shown however not communicate to the video and disregard audience interpretation and response.

 

 

WORKS CITED:

Avatar (2011) Solo Performance AVATAR Promotional Video, Online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VajYFGNKemA (last accessed: 1st March 2013).

Small Talk.

Shannon Turnbull

On Thursday 31st January 2013, I went to watch a Solo Performance at the LPAC. I was unsure about what the performance was about however I refused to read the blurb as I wanted to experience it with no premeditated ideas or opinions..

Performed by Antonia Grove and directed by Wendy Houstoun, this delightful performance was cleverly put together yet I felt uncertain about understanding it. This made me question, do we have to understand a Solo Performance to appreciate the performers intentions? The opening consisted of minimum lighting and no sound, this made me eager in wanting to know the reasons behind it. Antonia presented herself on stage listening to an iPod. The sound of her chosen ‘song’ was played through multi-media allowing the audience to hear what she heard. The ‘song’ we heard on the iPod was a therapeutic tape. I thought this was a very nice idea and gave the audience the potential insight into what possible personal reason she had to listen to a ‘help tape’. She was pretty, slim and looked confident so surely she didn’t want to be anyone else?

The changing of wigs, shoes and personas allowed me to interpret this as her ‘changing’ herself with the help of the relaxation/therapeutic tape. This made me feel sorry for her as she was obviously not happy with who she really was. She embodied the space through repetitions of movement and her speech became funny. She made her inner opinions comical which eased the audience as I felt some were unsure of what was happening and how to feel.. she captured our attention by doing something so simple yet creative which I will take as an inspiration.

The use of space was extraordinary when she took on the persona of girl number 03. By shotting tequila and dancing around she began to get more drunk and started to throw herself around in such a mesmerizing manner. You could tell she was well trained using her body as her movements had been thoroughly practised and perfected. The use of movement was strong and I enjoyed watching the movement from her, it fit perfectly into the dialogue and didn’t distract anyone from what message she was conveying. In this video at 6 minutes and 10 seconds, you can witness the precise and structured bodily expression.

During the audible tape, there were repetitions of the discreet messages ‘who do you want to be?’ ‘be who you want to be’ – this not only was directed toward the performer herself but also to us as an audience ourselves. Seeking help should not make you feel ashamed and I appreciated how the notion of help addressed everyone in the audience. I started to look at myself and reassure myself on what and who I wanted to become. I would like to create this feeling within my audience, making them look at their lives and themselves whilst also addressing the tribulations in my life.

The use of song and music was also a good way to up the tempo as at some points I felt like the production was slowly dragging. Singing along to ‘Crazy In Love’ by Beyonce, in her own way Antonia familiarised this song with the last generation and made the dance quite funny in juxtaposition to the desperate song lyrics. I liked the fact that even though it didn’t seem to fit, I enjoyed the different pathways her Solo Performance was going down. Taking on the different personas of women and portraying them in various ways made me feel good to be female and by questioning who I was, I felt comfortable in her portrayals. Towards the end, she took the props and clothes off which differentiated herself from each character, cleared the stage and left, however she came back on to give an acceptance speech which I thought was quite fitting.

It ended and I enjoyed experiencing an hour long Solo Performance – THANK GOD, mine will only be around 12 minutes long! I then looked at the programme given to me before the show and saw “A girl should be two things: who and what she wants – Coco Chanel”. This made me feel empowered and accepted.

 

WORKS CITED:

Probe Theatre Company Leaflet (2013)

Grove, Antonia ‘Small Talk‘, Online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPdMgt-uklY (last accessed 5th February 2013).

An idea will always start from something small, you’ve got to make it happen..

Shannon Turnbull

Since the first meeting, my mind has been going crazy contemplating potential ideas for my own Solo Performance. Some have scared me, others have stuck since day one. I’ll talk through some initial ideas here..

 

Painting

In all of my ideas, I want to provoke the audiences memory. I want them to leave thinking about their own lives and how far I have come in mine. I thought about covering the whole floor and walls with white paper to symbolise that everything in life starts blank, if you want it to be. There are no mistakes and it’s a fresh start. I would give each member of the audience a paintbrush and paint and allow them to draw what they wanted. To paint their first memory and their most recent. To paint the event that was most hardest in their life to the most joyful moment.. I don’t quite know how it would finish or what it would provoke but I liked the idea of being children again, learning to express through other means of communication. To be creative..

 

Dance

I have always thought that the medium of dance or interpretive movement is an organic and beautiful way to communicate inner feelings without the traditional setback of speech. The body is your being and to express deep anxieties with suitable music interested me. I have always been confident to dance and move, especially after studying Physical Theatre in semester A and would like to incorporate an emotional piece of movement into my Solo Performance.

 

Music

For me and for pretty much every other young person, music is the key to my life. Expressing your emotions through a particular song is something you cannot experience unless you feel a deep connection. Lyrics, the various instruments, the deeper messages all contribute to the emotional impact you have for the song. Prompting an emotional connection to something in your life is something I’d like my audience to feel. Whether it be a happy, depressed, tense, excited song.. everyone in the audience will have their own memory and that’s what I find beautiful. How many people in one room can witness the same event yet inhabit a different memory and feeling? No matter what path I go down for my performance, I hope to use music in this way.

 

Stand-up

Stand-up is a path I would love to explore however you have to be funny, or even have a shred of funniness in your body. I can be funny in the spur of moments.. I just don’t know if I can pull off a whole performance being funny. I watch stand-up’s continuously and I feel it takes a special person to convey themselves in that manner. I would love to go down that route and I pray someone would find me funny! People laugh at me, not necessarily with me..

 

90’s

A group of 20-25 year old’s in a room, talking about the 90’s produces a raw and magical experience for all involved. Reminiscing over the television programmes, comparing the hideous outfits and singing the awful, cheesy songs interest me and I would like to contextualise my performance to that era. Entwining a comedy element to this is something I would like to achieve and I feel by talking about the 90’s this will stimulate memories and experience for my audience. Sharing my own personal experiences of what went right and wrong for me could hopefully produce a sentimental atmosphere.

 

Autobiographical material

I have a full 20 years of life experiences I can draw upon to make my work autobiographical. I like the fact that some Solo artists draw upon past events in their own life and portray it in an entertaining way. I have a HUGE catalogue of negative and positive experiences that could be uncovered and performed in a comical way. There have been parts of my life which are hard to talk about, I have been so low, thinking I was the only one going through this horrific stage and bundle of emotions, however as I have grown I’ve come to realise that I wasn’t the only one. I would like my Solo Performance to contain the dark periods of my life, go back through it in a comical and enchanting way resulting in a happy ending for all. I am a very emotional person so I feel my autobiographical material should have an emotional connection to the audience and visa versa.

 

Erin Hurley draws upon emotion and memory in her book Theatre and Feeling and acknowledges that “we theatre people share an intense interest and curiosity in the subject of feeling” (2010, p.x). What I begin to feel is an exact replica of what I want to achieve when she states, “it is easy in the theatre to create a moment on stage when everyone in the audience feels the same thing. But what I find much more interesting and challenging is to stage a moment in which everyone has different associations and feels something different (Hurley 2010, p.ix). This is what I want to create for myself and spectators.. hopefully through the ideas I have previously discussed.

A piece of Solo Performance I have researched and enjoyed watching is ‘Step Pad Poetry’ by Matt Chewiwie. This simple concept is turned into a long and enchanting piece of emotional dialogue. An open field of autobiographical dialogue draws us in through simple funny lines and I have used this as an inspiration of what I would like to achieve! WE CAN ALL HOPE.. 

WORKS CITED:

Chewiwie, Matt (2008) ‘Step Pad Poetry’, Online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoouBqguWzg (last accessed: 04 February 2013)

Hurley, Erin (2010) Theatre and Feeling, Basingstoke: Palgrave.