Preciousness...
“I would have preferred to see our version of The Musicians,” so said Mr Jonathan Hopwood as we were discussing the West End production of Little Voice…and although I accused him of being biased I couldn’t help feeling the same…I was also feeling pretty disillusioned about watching professional theatre as the production had been nothing more than mediocre.
There ensued a reasonably lengthy debate about what had gone wrong. Why hadn’t we cared about the alcoholic, struggling mother and her emotionally challenged daughter? Why hadn’t we been entertained by the story of the working class struggling to realise their dreams? Why was the only thing that we agreed was good; the set?
The answer became clear during discussion, the production had lost sight of what it wanted to be and what it wanted to say and in doing so it had become a bland montage of moments…some more memorable than others…but in the end unfulfilling… and that’s a shame…especially at the price per ticket it is being sold for…
How does this relate to the youth theatre? Why is it relative to the work we’ve done this week? It’s relevant because the lesson I’ve learnt this week is about the importance of a shared vision…it’s one of the things we do well in our public performances but it’s also useful to think about in terms of the devised work we do in workshops.
We’re devising prolifically at the moment in Gold and Black company and there is lots of work being created in other companies too…there is nothing more rewarding than seeing groups of actors pursue a shared vision – sometimes I see that it’s there from the start and at others there is a tangible moment when a group that have been talking for a while will suddenly have that click and jump into whatever story or idea they have discovered… The fascinating thing is there is no real formula for making this happen other than the usual group etiquette of listening, contributing, accepting and being brave enough to try things…
My other related thought is this…Little Voice was nearing the end of it’s run…the actors had stopped caring about what they did…they were probably already in rehearsals for their next projects and had forgotten that for us as an audience this was the only chance we would get to see it…so then compare this to the youth theatre workshops…think about the pieces of theatre that are created and performed in the moment…often never to be seen again…it’s like a jewellery box of precious gems that are different every time you open it…bestowed with importance because of this and because of the value placed in them by those that create them…a value echoed and amplified by the respect of the audience…
Makes you treasure the collective key that everyone in the youth theatre owns doesn’t it…?
There ensued a reasonably lengthy debate about what had gone wrong. Why hadn’t we cared about the alcoholic, struggling mother and her emotionally challenged daughter? Why hadn’t we been entertained by the story of the working class struggling to realise their dreams? Why was the only thing that we agreed was good; the set?
The answer became clear during discussion, the production had lost sight of what it wanted to be and what it wanted to say and in doing so it had become a bland montage of moments…some more memorable than others…but in the end unfulfilling… and that’s a shame…especially at the price per ticket it is being sold for…
How does this relate to the youth theatre? Why is it relative to the work we’ve done this week? It’s relevant because the lesson I’ve learnt this week is about the importance of a shared vision…it’s one of the things we do well in our public performances but it’s also useful to think about in terms of the devised work we do in workshops.
We’re devising prolifically at the moment in Gold and Black company and there is lots of work being created in other companies too…there is nothing more rewarding than seeing groups of actors pursue a shared vision – sometimes I see that it’s there from the start and at others there is a tangible moment when a group that have been talking for a while will suddenly have that click and jump into whatever story or idea they have discovered… The fascinating thing is there is no real formula for making this happen other than the usual group etiquette of listening, contributing, accepting and being brave enough to try things…
My other related thought is this…Little Voice was nearing the end of it’s run…the actors had stopped caring about what they did…they were probably already in rehearsals for their next projects and had forgotten that for us as an audience this was the only chance we would get to see it…so then compare this to the youth theatre workshops…think about the pieces of theatre that are created and performed in the moment…often never to be seen again…it’s like a jewellery box of precious gems that are different every time you open it…bestowed with importance because of this and because of the value placed in them by those that create them…a value echoed and amplified by the respect of the audience…
Makes you treasure the collective key that everyone in the youth theatre owns doesn’t it…?
it’s like a jewellery box of precious gems that are different every time you open it..
ReplyDeleteI think probably my favourite blog yet.
that one and the middle finger blog!!