So, after weeks of rehearsals, it was performance time! Abigail Earlie and I worked really hard on developing our idea, based around the concept of ghosting, the theory that all performance is in some way haunted by that which has gone before, whether that be an actors previous roles, the theatre space you are in or even down to something as apparently trivial as a costume you may have seen before.
The performance itself went very well, no forgotten lines, no wardrobe malfunctions and no crippling nerves! We chose to focus on Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart and their very prominent roles in The Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Waiting for Godot, No Man’s Land and X Men, which for many have coloured their views on the actors and their current roles. In an interview with Time Out magazine, Patrick Stewart comments “I’ve no doubt that some people come to see Gandalf and Jean-Luc Picard” (Time Out, 2009), explaining that he is acutely aware of the nature of ghosting and the effect it can have on audiences. We created a short film, a ‘mash-up’ of clips from some previous performances by McKellen and Stewart, both stage and screen, to play behind our live performance to further confuse our audience and encourage them to question the nature of what, and who, they are seeing. I have included this film above. We also included some information, taken from books we had read during the module, at the beginning of the performance, to add an extra layer and prevent the piece from appearing too comical or lacking in gravity.
We hoped that by combining extracts from both Waiting for Godot and No Man’s Land, the use of the short film, the signs around our necks, the small items of clothing and props and the setting of the furniture on the stage, it would create an overall sense of the confusion and misinterpretation that can occur when trying to effectively ‘forget’ what has gone before and be present in the moment. And drinking fake whiskey for a performance is always a good thing!!! (It was actually pear juice!)
Bibliography.
Time Out (2009) Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen: Interview. London: Time Out. Available from http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/patrick-stewart-and-ian-mckellen-interview [accessed 22 January 2017].
I must admit, I wasn’t really concentrating on the show when I went to the Minack Theatre in Cornwall earlier this year. Not because I was tired or uninterested, although it was the musical Oliver! so not really my thing anyway but it was the only production on whilst we were on holiday. Rather it was due to the breathtaking views from the venue itself. We were sat quite close to the back, mainly because we were a little late and the raked stone seating closer to the stage had already been taken, which turned out to be a blessing as sitting further back, and therefore higher up, meant the view out across the cliffs and over the sea was simply stunning. And as the light faded, the sound of the waves crashing below seemed to intensify and the volume became something quite extraordinary, creating a natural soundscape, an audible backdrop against which to play the action. I’m not sure a show such as Oliver! sat quite right in this venue, (a murky Dickensian slum vs. the astonishing Cornish coastline? I would have rather seen something Shakespearean here, as I think the venue lends itself to that style of production, maybe The Tempest) but there is no escaping the sheer beauty and spectacle involved when you visit a place like the Minack.
The space chosen by a theatre company in which to perform is often the first creative choice seen by the audience as they enter the venue, (aside from a promotional poster or advertisement) and can give them an indication as to the experience the audience are about to have. Therefore the decision by theatre companies to use spaces other than traditional theatres can shape an audiences expectations before they have even seen the first glimpse of an actor. Companies and performers have chosen to stage performances in art galleries, disused warehouses, renovated public toilet blocks, old power stations, countless open air spaces and even Lincoln Cathedral has hosted a version of Jesus Christ Superstar.
The space in which a production is performed is now as carefully chosen as the costumes and scenery. No longer is it acceptable to crowbar a production into any old theatre and expect it to just ‘fit’. Space becomes part of what defines a performance. As Hans-Thies Lehmann states in his book Postdramatic Theatre “When a factory floor, an electric power station or a junkyard is being performed in, a new ‘aesthetic gaze’ is cast onto them. The space presents itself. It becomes a co-player without having a definite significance.” (Lehmann, 2006, 152).
Ariadne’s Thread.
One example of a space being transformed into an unrecognisable performance area was for a piece called The Labyrinth or Ariadne’s Thread. The piece was led by a group of Colombian performers, and spectators were to move through a maze of spaces, mostly in complete darkness, being led only by their sense of touch or hearing, whilst smells and other sensory stimulation was used to make the experience as immersive as possible. In one space, the audience members were encouraged to pass down a soft, pink tube into a large tub of unroasted coffee beans. In his book Theatre and Consciousness, Daniel Meyer-Dinkgrafe describes how the performance had made an impression on students who had experienced it, stating “The reaction of individual spectators was different to each and every of the defined spaces, the installations and whatever went on in them, but all agreed that the experience had remained vividly in their minds, unlikely to be forgotten ever…” (Meyer-Dinkgrafe, 2005, 144).
Whilst most theatre experiences are not as immersive or interactive as Ariadne’s Thread, very many are now using the actual theatre space as a springboard from which to launch an unusual or alternative performance and contemporary theatre audiences are more willing to accept, often even expecting, that an uncommon space be used.
Session notes.
If unusual performance spaces are used, it makes the experience more memorable for the audience and tends to stay with them for longer.
Opera venues have huge stages and auditoriums and they don’t use microphones, therefore performers voices have to fill the space using only their own vocal power. See Pavarotti and Maria Callas.
Live cast of Frankenstein had visually stunning set at the opening, large industrial construction in the middle of stage from which the ‘monster’ appeared. Created a sense of imposition and anxiety amongst the audience.
As technology has increasingly become a part of our daily lives and something which we feel ‘disconnected’ without, it has inevitably begun to seep into theatre and performance. Performances which employ digital technology not merely to support or enhance a ‘traditional’ play, but to create an entire performance within itself have become mainstream and are increasingly attractive to artists and performance makers. This use of technology is bringing us closer to a future (in a general and performative sense) where the human being will become obsolete. In their book Multimedia Performance, Rosemary Klich and Edward Scheer reference Fredrick Kittler who “argues that not only does the digitisation of media erode the notion of ‘media’ itself, but it eradicates the necessity for human interface” (Klich and Scheer, 2012, 179). Furthermore they reference Fredrick Kittler when they say “Kittler sees information as autonomous, and perceives digitisation as potentially creating a medium able to record and write reality independent of human interference” (Klich and Scheer, 2012, 180). However, the notion that the human being will no longer be a requisite component of the performance process is argued by other specialists in the field such as Mark Hansen, who refers to Raymond Ruyer when stating
“transmission itself, insofar as it remains mechanical, is the only transmission of a pattern, or structural order without internal unity. A conscious being, by apprehending this pattern as a whole, makes it take on form…sound waves on the telephone have been redrawn…by electrical relays, and if an ear, or rather a conscious ‘I’ was not, in the end, listening to all the stages of the informational machine, one would only ever discover fragmented functions and never a form properly speaking” (Klich and Scheer, 2012, 180).
Developing art and performance which creates an immersive experience is also something which digital and virtual artists have been trying to successfully produce. A truly immersive experience is almost impossible to achieve as in order to do so the spectator must fully believe that they are ‘within’ the performance and effectively forget the actual world around them. Cognitive immersion is a more achievable goal due to the audiences willingness to suspend their disbelief and engage with the action being portrayed on stage. As Klich and Scheer state “In traditional theatre, the staged fiction creates a discrete alternative world, and the house lights are blackened so as to help the audience forget their physical reality and become part of the fictional realm” (Klich and Scheer, 2012, 128).
Sensory immersion is more difficult for artists to achieve. It requires more stimulation of the senses of the spectator but less conscious recognition of the fictitious nature of the performance happening before them. Klich and Scheer state that “In post-dramatic theatre, where there is no clearly demarcated alternative reality, there is still potential for the audience to experience a high degree of immersion, not immersion in an alternative world, but immersion in the spatial ‘here and now’, an enhanced state of being in relation to the surrounding space and responding to immediate stimuli” (Klich and Scheer, 2012, 131).
Video artist Bill Viola uses video technology as a medium to highlight to the spectator the four elements of earth, air, fire and water. In his piece below, entitled Tristan’s Ascension, Viola uses recorded footage of a huge amount of water falling onto an individual who is laid on a platform, which is then played backwards with the sound of the falling water increasing as the piece progresses, creating a sensorial and evocative experience for the spectator.
In a performance designed to create a completely different response in the audience, Granular Synthesis produced an installation piece entitled Modell 5, in which recorded images of a woman singing are played repetitively, at high speed, creating unnatural sounds and movements. The ‘liveness’ of the piece is provided in the form of a member of the group mixing the images and sound in real time. Alongside this, the volume is extremely loud within the performance space, creating an uncomfortable and somewhat overwhelming environment in which to experience the performance.
Session notes.
Digital performance, particularly online performance, is more instantaneous than any other art form and can be shared internationally, with millions of people, with a single click.
We ‘perform’ online, experimenting with personas, masks and invented personalities.
Digital or virtual performances very often do not include a live element, preferring to put the emphasis on the audiences experiences or the aesthetic/sensorial experience.
It has nothing in common with cognitive thought or understanding, rather it involves a lot of sensorial stimulation.
Bill Viola, Janet Cardiff, Granular Synthesis, all digital/virtual artists.
The term ‘postdramatic’ was coined by Hans-Thies Lehmann in his book Postdramatic Theatre. He uses this term to describe the contemporary mode of theatre and performance which no longer relies solely on the text to provide a dramatic basis to performance, but rather include it as only a part of the entire structure. Lehmann explains “The adjective ‘postdramatic’ denotes a theatre that feels bound to operate beyond drama, at a time ‘after’ the authority of the dramatic paradigm in theatre.” (Lehmann, 2009, 27). Liz Tomlin expands on these thoughts in her essay ‘And their stories fell apart even as I was telling them‘ by explaining that students and professionals within the theatre industry sought to focus on aspects other than the text and embrace “a contemporary practice that rejected the forms and conventions of the authored written text, in favour of collaborative practice with an emphasis on the live, the physical and the visual aspects of theatre.” (Tomlin, 2009, 57).
Lehmann further describes the term with reference to the emergence of events such as ‘happenings’, Fluxus events and live and performance art, stating “The changed use of theatre signs leads to a blurred boundary between theatre and forms of practice such as Performance Art, forms which strive for an experience of the real. With reference to the notion and practice of ‘Concept Art’ (as it flourished especially around 1970), postdramatic theatre can be seen as an attempt to conceptualize art in the sense that it offers not a representation but an intentionally unmediated experience of the real (time, space, body): Concept Theatre.” (Lehmann, 2009, 134).
Postdramatic theatre challenges the three Aristotelian unities of action, time and place. It seeks to distance itself from these controlling restraints, favouring instead a more flexible approach. As Lehmann states “In postdramatic theatre, breath, rhythm and the present actuality of the body’s visceral presence take precedence over the logos.” (Lehmann, 2009, 145). Further he adds “The principle of exposition applied to body, gesture and voice also seizes the language material and attacks languages function of representation. Instead of a linguistic re-presentation of facts, there is a ‘position’ of tones, words, sentences, sounds that are hardly controlled by a ‘meaning’ but instead by the scenic composition, by a visual, not text oriented dramaturgy.” (Lehmann, 2009, 146).
Martin Crimp’s play The City employs the three unities but only for the purposes of knocking them down again. He makes it clear from the outset that he acknowledges their existence but intends to render them ‘Blank’. Although The City does include characters, text and a setting, it does not fulfil all the tenets of a traditional piece of dramatic theatre as the world of the play is confused and we are left without a satisfactory resolution. However, in Crimp’s play Attempts on her Life, we see a clear movement away from the dramatic, towards a distinctly postdramatic structure, as he chooses to eschew all reference to character, (except for Anne, whom we never meet) place and dialogue. All 17 scenarios offer an insight into ‘Anne’ and who she may or may not be, even suggesting at one point that she is a car. There is no linear narrative, no conflict and no neat resolution, leaving us only to ponder the messages conveyed within each scene.
Session notes;
Postdramatic theatre does not have a coherent plot, definable characters, a certain setting. It is interested in exploring reality and the pretence of performance.
The making of the piece and the receiving of the piece happen simultaneously, in the same time and place, and draws attention to the weird relationship between performers and audiences, and attempts to bring this into the performance.
It addresses the relationship between the form and subject matter of theatre. The stage ought to be a ‘point of departure’ for a piece.
Lehmann’s theory essentially follows on from Szondi’s theories, in which he talks about ‘Absolute Drama’ in the 17th and 18th C, in which dialogue, communication, exclusion of anything outside the dramatic world, linear time and adherence to the three unities were paramount. At the end of the 19th C there is a ‘Crisis of Drama’ with playwrights such as Ibsen, Chekhov and Strindberg. Then 20 C drama is ‘Modern Drama’. Lehmann argues that Szondi cannot see ‘theatre without drama’.
Forced Entertainment use postdramatic methods within their performances, to explore issues of identity, politics, relationships and creating a dialogue with audiences.
In her book Applying Performance: Live Art, Socially Engaged Theatre and Affective Practice, Nicola Shaughnessy says “The decomposing corpse of performance is, after all, transforming into something else, a different kind of performance matter” (Shaughnessy, 2015, xiv). The concept of moving into a different era of performance is compelling and the fact that we no longer feel the need to abide by certain unwritten ‘rules’ of drama is extremely refreshing and freeing.
Theatre makers, performers and directors are increasingly looking to include audiences, spectators and the wider community in the creation and reception of performance and live art. Shaughnessy also states “The role and experience of both the spectator and the community in which the art is produced is central to the re-evaluation of efficacy in these relational and participatory practices and encounters” (Shaughnessy, 2015, xvi). There is also a greater inclination to affect social and political awareness (if not indeed change) by highlighting the issues relevant at any particular moment, in any particular society.
TheatreNO99 explored this in their project Unified Estonia, as they created a fictitious political party and sought to gain real public support, which astonishingly they did, ultimately receiving a 25% share of the vote in poles. Check out the introduction to their fake political convention below…
I found this concept fascinating, and the fact that large amounts of people can be affected to the point that they would actually consider voting for a ‘fake’ political party based on their very effective self promotion and use of spectacle is concerning, to say the least. This is further supported by Shaughnessy when she states that “…post-dramatic theatre, live art and applied performance converse, conjoined by shared interests in audience engagement, innovation, affect and a commitment to the social value of the arts” (Shaughnessy, 2015, xvi).
Session notes:
Brett Bailey, Exhibit B. South African artist who created a piece which sought to expose the atrocities against black people. The piece used motionless performers situated throughout a gallery, with actual artifacts from colonial times. However, does Bailey highlight these issues effectively or merely perpetuate the racism by illuminating the issue? Does Bailey simply replay what has gone before, or can this sort of performance alter the way people conceive of others? Many people reacted angrily to the exhibit, particularly in London, where the production was cancelled. In a quote from an interview Bailey gave with The Guardian online, he questions whether this kind of censorship is a reasonable measure to take, saying “I stand for a global society that is rich in a plurality of voices. I stand against any action that calls for the censoring of creative work or the silencing of divergent views, except those where hatred is the intention.The intention of Exhibit B was never hatred, fear, or prejudice. It is about love, respect and outrage. Those who have caused Exhibit B to be shut down brand the work as racist. They have challenged my right, as a white South African, to speak about racism the way I do. They accuse me of exploiting my performers. They insist that my critique of human zoos and the objectifying, dehumanising colonial/racist gaze is nothing more than a recreation of those spectacles of humiliation and control. The vast majority of them have not attended the work” (Bailey, 2014).
In their book The Affective Turn: Theorizing the Social, Patricia Ticineto Clough and Jean Halley speak about the era of performance we find ourselves in now, and that “We are no longer in a ‘performance turn’, we are in the ‘affective turn” (Ticineto Clough and Halley, 2007, ?????) This signals a move towards making theatre count and using it as a tool to affect political and social change. Furthermore, Baz Kershaw suggests in his book The Radical in Performance: Between Brecht and Baudrillard that “…’radical performance’ might usefully replace ‘political theatre’, not because it will enable us to somehow settle the issues raised by the promiscuity of the political in post-modern, but rather because it will allow us to more directly encounter them” (Kershaw, 1999,17).
Bibliography.
Bailey, B. (2014) Yes, Exhibit B is challenging – but I never sought to alienate or offend. The Guardian, 24 September. Available from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/24/exhibit-b-challenging-work-never-sought-alienate-offend-brett-bailey [accessed 25 October 2016]
Kershaw, B. (1999) The Radical in Performance: Between Brecht and Baudrillard. London: Routledge.
Shaughnessy, N. (2015) Applying Performance: live art, socially engaged theatre and affective practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Ticineto Clough, P. and Halley, J. (2007) The Affective Turn: Theorizing the Social. USA: Duke University Press.
