The performance I described in my earlier post: ‘Performance Experimentation Two’, is the performance I have chosen to expand. The basis of this performance is very personal to me and I am keen to expand and develop my experience. In order to see the performance as a whole I have put together a description of the show. It is as follows:
This performance will revolve around jealousy. I want to explore the many levels of jealousy and discover whether jealousy is ever a good trait to carry. I will distinguish the difference between jealousy and envy to which I see a fine line weary of being crossed. The performance will carry an autobiographical message through my own experiences inspiring the piece. After testing a number of ingredients from my own experience on my peers I will make the decision whether my experiences make the performance or whether they just form a part of the performance. At present time, I am interested in integrating them within other people’s stories as I am interested in learning about other people’s experiences with jealousy.
The performance will be very intimate to an audience of no more than six people at a time, including myself. This is for a couple of reasons; firstly because jealousy can be a very personal emotion. You may feel jealous of others and you may know others that are jealous of you. I want to confront this personal element in a way that is not in any sense intimidating. The second reason I suggest six people is that I feel an even number is best. Ideally this illuminates one person feeling isolated or ganged upon. It also is just enough people to create this feeling of being ganged upon if a story provokes it. This is something that I will test before the final performance.
Through rehearsal I will experiment with the actor/audience setting. At present time I am interested in sitting myself and the audience around a table as not only will this heighten the intimacy, I also want the audience to feel that I am on the same path that they are.
To begin work on this performance I have put together a two week plan of how I will progress with the show however I anticipate that this will plan will change through rehearsal.I will begin by testing out the following list of ingredients:
- In the middle of a table is a set of cards. Each card will have a question or a statement on it. Each audience member when instructed by myself will individually take a card and read it aloud before going on to answer the question or respond to the statement.
- Getting a group of my peers together I will begin a game of ‘I have never’. I will say a number of statements like ‘I have never been jealous of somebody’ and ask the members to respond truthfully by raising their hand if they have ever been guilty of whatever statements I say. I will make record each person’s response for every question.
- The audience are given a piece of paper and an envelope on entering the room. Once sitting at the table they are asked to write down how jealousy makes them feel before sealing the envelope and holding it for the duration of the piece. I will then tell a short story of my experience with jealousy and at the end of the performance ask each member to open their envelope and read aloud what they wrote at the beginning of the session. I will then ask them whether their opinion has changed at all.
After testing out these ingredients, I will begin work on scripting myself for the performance. Some of the script will be adlib as I am hoping to ask the audience questions and respond to them, whether in conversation or just answering them. I will also make it clear at the start of the performance that the audience are welcome to ask me questions at any time.
In the following week, I will test out my performance on whoever is available during the allocated seminar time. If this for any reason is not possible, I will test out my performance on a number of my friends. After recording how the performance went I will then edit the script where needed, incorporating any new ideas that come to me through experimentation. Through testing my performance, I hope to find inspiration with lighting and visual effects. I am interested in speaking to Darren to establish whether having a projection at either end of the studio is possible so that my audience will be able to see images no matter where they are sitting throughout my piece. I do not necessarily want these projections to mirror one another as I am interested in each audience member experiencing something different. This ties in with exactly how jealousy can make you feel. I am also interested in having some sound effects throughout my piece however I will not know exactly what and how many until I have written the script.