Appreciate it.
So here I am, Danny Bell - remember the name – bahaha – writing a blog of all things.
Gold company inspired me to do so this morning. I feel a little like Peter Brook in his introduction to Grotowski’s ‘Towards a Poor Theatre’ in that I don’t want to discuss the work we undertook in the room for fear it will be broken or misrepresented. So I’ll follow in his footsteps and allude to the work and try draw out some more general points that are perhaps more accessible.
Gold Company are embarking on a journey into farce, specifically looking at Chekov’s ‘The Bear’ and ‘The Proposal’ however that journey has literally just begun with read throughs today so I’ll leave that and concentrate on the creative task that was set for the other half of the company who haven’t yet acquired their scripts.
Neatly combining Black and Gold’s themes of farce and mistaken identity (It’s worth noting that last week’s plays on mistaken identity were excellent) this week’s creative task was creating a play about a mistaken situation. And what followed was nothing short of magic. (It’s also worth noting I’m not normally this gushy.)
What was magic about the pieces was that the actors were in complete control of the style and not the other way around. There were toying with it. The best analogy I can think of is a cat playing with a mouse purely for it’s own amusement. It was indulgent, sure, but let’s look at the bigger picture.
There’s a city called Wakefield which is socially deprived, where on a Saturday morning 30 or so teenagers gather. Now rather than yknow paint graffiti and wear hoods and abuse the elderly and flirt with traffic as all teenagers surely do, they instead choose to spend this time attending a youth theatre. A youth theatre that challenges and stretches and supports and demands from it’s members. Where confidence is raised and shared and artistic tastes are discovered, where skills are learned and utilised, where kindness and insight are rewarded and egos and agendas surrendered at the door for the greater harmony of the ensemble. Where new forms of theatre are introduced and experimented on, where an open dialogue and culture of reflection constantly points towards the development and furthered well-being of the individual…still teenagers from Wakefield doing all this remember…so now, the point of this mini speech is that if whilst they’re doing all that they can’t be a little self-indulgent when looking at farce then the world just needs to be imploded.
So yes- there was a little self-indulgence strutting around but still let’s think about this. It was funny. Genuinely funny. Because these actors ‘got it’. They grabbed hold of this style of theatre and milked it for all it’s worth. Actors from age 14 in two weeks have mastered mistaken identity/situation. This is huge! This is an incredible point. Actors weren’t stamping themselves all over a play – they were working together to produce the best thing possible. In terms of indulgence and showing off, because yes there was indulgence and showing off, BUT what they were showing off is how good they are at a new style of theatre. I can’t stress this point enough. All the arrogance and enthusiasm of youth was channelled for a moment in a room in the same direction! THIS DOESN’T HAPPEN A LOT! Phew – good to get that off my chest.
The set ups were pitch perfect. Clear, concise, exactly what the audience needs to understand. Nothing more. No Oscar attempts, no ‘look at me with my ultra-real character neuroses on display.’ It’s farce, it’s a mistaken situation, it’s the set up – done. These 14 year olds know that’s not where the good stuff is.
Now we’ve got the set up we exploit it. With everything we’ve got. And they had it all. Subtle intelligent word play; Not so subtle intelligent word play announced with just the right amount of awareness. Buckets of physical energy and performance. Sticks. Gag after gag at the expense of the situation and for some reason I don’t understand there were puns! Like loads of puns…like loads of hilarious, Shakespearean nods to the audience. Now who doesn’t love a pun? So in terms of grasping a style of theatre, and creating new work that’s accessible, engaging and entertaining they tore it up.
So I guess I have two points really that I’d like to reiterate. The first is that Gold company did very well indeed today…they set out to entertain for the sake of entertaining and achieved it. They did it with intelligence, wit and bravery and to an exceptional standard regardless of age.
The second is that you (as in you, in Gold company) should appreciate it. I don’t mean this in a ‘oh you should be grateful you have drama done to you every week’ kind of way. I mean it in a ‘relish this opportunity and take as much as you can from it’ kind of way. There’s genuinely something a little bit special happening, and I’d like you to get that it’s not happening regardless of you and you just happen to be there – the thing that’s happening is you and what you’re doing. Appreciate that this thing is happening at all and appreciate that you’re smashing it
Gold company inspired me to do so this morning. I feel a little like Peter Brook in his introduction to Grotowski’s ‘Towards a Poor Theatre’ in that I don’t want to discuss the work we undertook in the room for fear it will be broken or misrepresented. So I’ll follow in his footsteps and allude to the work and try draw out some more general points that are perhaps more accessible.
Gold Company are embarking on a journey into farce, specifically looking at Chekov’s ‘The Bear’ and ‘The Proposal’ however that journey has literally just begun with read throughs today so I’ll leave that and concentrate on the creative task that was set for the other half of the company who haven’t yet acquired their scripts.
Neatly combining Black and Gold’s themes of farce and mistaken identity (It’s worth noting that last week’s plays on mistaken identity were excellent) this week’s creative task was creating a play about a mistaken situation. And what followed was nothing short of magic. (It’s also worth noting I’m not normally this gushy.)
What was magic about the pieces was that the actors were in complete control of the style and not the other way around. There were toying with it. The best analogy I can think of is a cat playing with a mouse purely for it’s own amusement. It was indulgent, sure, but let’s look at the bigger picture.
There’s a city called Wakefield which is socially deprived, where on a Saturday morning 30 or so teenagers gather. Now rather than yknow paint graffiti and wear hoods and abuse the elderly and flirt with traffic as all teenagers surely do, they instead choose to spend this time attending a youth theatre. A youth theatre that challenges and stretches and supports and demands from it’s members. Where confidence is raised and shared and artistic tastes are discovered, where skills are learned and utilised, where kindness and insight are rewarded and egos and agendas surrendered at the door for the greater harmony of the ensemble. Where new forms of theatre are introduced and experimented on, where an open dialogue and culture of reflection constantly points towards the development and furthered well-being of the individual…still teenagers from Wakefield doing all this remember…so now, the point of this mini speech is that if whilst they’re doing all that they can’t be a little self-indulgent when looking at farce then the world just needs to be imploded.
So yes- there was a little self-indulgence strutting around but still let’s think about this. It was funny. Genuinely funny. Because these actors ‘got it’. They grabbed hold of this style of theatre and milked it for all it’s worth. Actors from age 14 in two weeks have mastered mistaken identity/situation. This is huge! This is an incredible point. Actors weren’t stamping themselves all over a play – they were working together to produce the best thing possible. In terms of indulgence and showing off, because yes there was indulgence and showing off, BUT what they were showing off is how good they are at a new style of theatre. I can’t stress this point enough. All the arrogance and enthusiasm of youth was channelled for a moment in a room in the same direction! THIS DOESN’T HAPPEN A LOT! Phew – good to get that off my chest.
The set ups were pitch perfect. Clear, concise, exactly what the audience needs to understand. Nothing more. No Oscar attempts, no ‘look at me with my ultra-real character neuroses on display.’ It’s farce, it’s a mistaken situation, it’s the set up – done. These 14 year olds know that’s not where the good stuff is.
Now we’ve got the set up we exploit it. With everything we’ve got. And they had it all. Subtle intelligent word play; Not so subtle intelligent word play announced with just the right amount of awareness. Buckets of physical energy and performance. Sticks. Gag after gag at the expense of the situation and for some reason I don’t understand there were puns! Like loads of puns…like loads of hilarious, Shakespearean nods to the audience. Now who doesn’t love a pun? So in terms of grasping a style of theatre, and creating new work that’s accessible, engaging and entertaining they tore it up.
So I guess I have two points really that I’d like to reiterate. The first is that Gold company did very well indeed today…they set out to entertain for the sake of entertaining and achieved it. They did it with intelligence, wit and bravery and to an exceptional standard regardless of age.
The second is that you (as in you, in Gold company) should appreciate it. I don’t mean this in a ‘oh you should be grateful you have drama done to you every week’ kind of way. I mean it in a ‘relish this opportunity and take as much as you can from it’ kind of way. There’s genuinely something a little bit special happening, and I’d like you to get that it’s not happening regardless of you and you just happen to be there – the thing that’s happening is you and what you’re doing. Appreciate that this thing is happening at all and appreciate that you’re smashing it
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