The Commission

The Commission for our piece is:

"To give audiences experiences they wouldn't normally have. 

Building experimental theatre experiences with narrative at the core. We will tell tales by putting people in the middle of stories and giving them the option  to actively or passively watch as the story comes alive around them.

Think about what it means to be an audience member within our show?

We must be careful not to provide a passive experience like being in a gallery. Over dramatic experiences can sometimes get in the way. It comes down to narrative; a sensational scene should never be used for the sake of it, only when it adds to the story. That's why action films with an unnecessary amount of explosions are never that great. It's the same with theatre – sometimes people get away with giving enough of sensational experience to cover up the fact that there's no story. I disagree with that. Brook's hypothesis of theatre operating through "freeing the dynamic process". A question of emancipating, and not fixing, the human's instincts.

Work with the point at which the impulses of one conjoin with the impulses of another to resonate together.The exercises and improvisations facilitate a tuning of the theatrical ‘instrument’ that is the actor’s being, in addition to a circulation of "living dramatic flow"  in the actors as a group. The theatrical ‘miracle’ is produced afterwards, in the active presence of the audience."

My response to the Commission:

I find this an interesting read, and definitely a challenge to put into practice. With the stage we are at at the moment - close to the performance time, I need to keep referring back to the Commission to ensure that I am on  track with the performance's purpose. If I were to write a Commission for the piece, I think I would write the same thing, as the crux of Experimental theatre is creating an experience audiences would not normally have. I think the part of the Commission that I will struggle with most is creating a strong narrative - I feel that with our trio, there is the potential for the audience to miss out on the narrative and I think it will be difficult to maintain a strong narrative as time goes on, because it is very physical piece and I think I will get tired. To avoid this, I have been working on my personal fitness and stamina, and we have been refining our trio to make the chance that the audience do not understand the narrative aspect to our work very slim. The part I think I will most easily achieve is not creating a passive experience for the audience as I am finding it increasingly easy to enter into the atmosphere of the room and really connect with what I am doing. I hope that this will create another dimension for the audience and will help me to develop as a performer. I can definitely tell that the skills I am refining from the stimulus of the Commission are applicable to the other pieces I am creating at the moment and I will work to keep this up. As our group piece centres so much around emotion, I know I need to be entirely involved in the piece, and not 'act' so much as 'react' to what is going on, to make a believable and truthful performance. If I do this, I am sure that the 'theatrical miracle' that the Commission talks about will be achieved. I believe that the Commission for the group piece has allowed me to develop as a performer and think that it is wholly appropriate and achievable for us when doing our group piece.