Soho Square Tea

Today was really different from last time that I had tea. I only had time for two people - which didn't matter to me. Even one person in a day is a bonus... "please don't let me keep you" was the phrase of the day - even though I had invited them to have tea with me.!!

Been on my own and not sat with another person was the key I think,  (Stevie sat with me last time). Sally was sat in the park though taking the pictures and watching me. I was really grateful as there were a lot of strange people out and about today. It was good to know that I had help if I needed it (thank you Sally). Have decided not to do this alone. Both people sat with me for an hour each and had a really good chat. I am totally exhausted!

If I tell you something about me, I was wondering whether you could tell me something about you in return. I'm a theatre practitioner and am gathering material to help me write my show for my MA... I have a three year old son. He has only just met his dad. His dad has been away travelling but recently came back into our lives. My son was a bit cautious at first, but as soon as his dad produced toys and sweets he was practically his best friend - you'd think he'd never not been there:

He took off his glasses and looked me in the eyes; in one instant I tried to understand what it meant to have his four year old daughter taken away from him. To have an ex that can make your life hell, to be homeless and have to live in a hostel, and to loose your job - all in one year. A dad that has had five wives and tells him he is nothing more than a chip off the old block... still you have to stay positive don't you. My neighbours don't say hi to me in the hostel. Just saying good morning to someone helps lift my spirits for the day doesn't it!? - people in London aren't so friendly... I have the same name as his mum but the Portuguese equivalent. He was so taken with this that half an hour later he came back to find me with some documents of his mother's just to prove it to me. 

Does your son live with you then... ... ... Yeah

There was no way I could re tell this story as if it were my own to the next person that sat with me. I decided to go back to a good honest chat and come back to the whole embodying someone's story idea later.

Translator, blues musician, and just wanted to make me laugh. I now have an array of jokes that I should 'use in my show' - as well as plenty of dating tips, apparently it was the Egyptians who were the expert in courtship and there are 5 rules that you should follow if you want to win a woman over! He was really open with me. We compared relationships, how to take tea (I have been given a new tip on making that apparently is better than drinking Red Bull! apparently mine is too weak), families, our views on the art of conversation, and why it is so important that people laugh.

Tea participant number two also gave me a gift to try out (incase you can't tell from the picture it is one of those chewing gum packets that when you pull the gum a mouse trap thing snaps your finger - but this one has a rubber cockroach on it) haha I love it - I was really touched that he wanted me to take something away... as well as the rest of his jokes!

Again though, the theme of the day was relationships. The strangest this was that I didn't direct the conversation, and it was a topic that they wanted to talk about very openly. Sex, affairs, heartbreak, warts and all. 

I think that it is because when talking to a perfect stranger what else do you have in common? The fact that we all connect with someone... is that an incredibly cheesy thing to say and focus on?

I can't think of a title!

Just thought that I would write a quick blog before I pass out after only just getting in from work.

Just flicking around the net and came across this great sounding project called Brother's in Yarn
it is basically two men that are about to walk to London (from somewhere far away sounding), with no money, and telling stories along the way. They are raising money for charity and are professional story tellers. I think that this sounds like a great project!!

It feels to me as if narrative in a more traditional sense is making a bit of a come back at the moment. Practitioners and artists have been really wary about using linear narratives for a long time. It has just got me thinking about what is changing, and the value of story telling, as it is becoming a big part of my practice.

Also wanted to write how much I enjoyed Kira O'Reilly's talk and tutorial today. I found it really exciting to hear her talk about her own work. I have studied her practice for years - she even featured in my BA dissertation (not that I would tell her that hehe how sad would I sound!?). I couldn't get to see her work when I was at the NRLA, but it was so great for me to hear what she thought about her own work. I have only ever read what other people think about it!!

The tutorial was helpful. I am beginning to pin down why the project is interesting to me and where my focus is.

I am having tea in Soho Square tomorrow if all goes well. Am going to try a bench this time. Kira made a really good suggestion that I think I am going to try out. She suggested that I ask people to tell me a story about something that happened in their lives, then re-tell the story to the next person that sits with me as if it were my own. I am really excited about trying this out as I think that it will be a great way to generate script material and be more performative in itself.

I have been struggling with writing the initial script. However, after thinking on my tutorial, I have decided to write a small anecdote from my Grandma's life and tell it in first person. I am curious to see whether a theme will develop from the day, whether people will tell a similar story back to me and this will inform the next one and so on. You all know I love my identity politics so am really excited to see how it feels to tell a story in a different gender, age, class and try and own it - even if the words don't fit.


Fingers crossed for me I'm a bit nervous

Something worth thinking about..

Whilst researching on the internet I came across this article on the Guardian Arts Blog

I think that it is something worth thinking about both in terms of my practice and research. Why is it that people increasingly want to engage with their audience on such a personal level? There seems to be a surge of practitioners trying to create 'real' intimacy where the audience is having more and more of a realised input into the actual work. Whether this is in the form of confessional pieces, or in the case of Caroline Smith's new work providing information to actually make the show. 

Considering this has been interesting in terms of what I am practically trying to achieve at the moment. My work is very much situated in between the conceptual nature of the confessional, and the gathering of material that Caroline is doing (although in a different manner as I am leaving the organic nature of the encounters to dictate the show which leaves the themes much more open ended at this point). 

As Lyn Gardner states though, it is an enforced intimacy, an illusion of intimacy in a lonely world. So what does this say about the practitioners making the work and the audience willing to partake in it? What does the work say about the culture we live in?

For my essay I am shifting focus a little (AGAIN! haha). I am considering the intimacy produced in organic theatre (and indeed some one on one performances). I want to try and look at the culture we live in through the lens of these performances. hmmm

I believe that the organic nature of the work and the way that the audience are incorporated into the work produces an almost cult following. You feel intimate with the practitioner, you feel as though they are letting you in on a secret. Like you know them, their inner workings, both personally and as an artist working as they are letting you in on the process.  You are really part of somehthing. But how is this effect produced and why?

In terms of a live event there is often an authority attached to it. A belief that you are having an authentic experience due to the visceral and temporal nature of the exchange. However, I believe that the mechanisms used to produce this effect and to draw in an audience are the same as the ones that are at work in media and celebrity culture. The intimacy is no more real than feeling that you know Ant and Dec. 

Our culture is one where knowledge about a person or 'persona' is ubiquitous. We have easy, instant access to personal lives, the career development of 'personas', and the inner workings of the films or television programmes that these 'celebrities' are working on (behind the scenes). I would like to argue that the livesness and intimacy inherent in Organic Theatre has no more authority or authenticity than that of celebrity, media culture. 

A continuation of Auslander's argument where the ontological nature of liveness and mediatisation is blurred but with a focus on intimacy and authenticity. 

I love that I argue with myself constantly and my own ideals! God Dam! :o)

Brushing my teeth this morning I had a thought...

Not knowing where this is going…

Transformation. Obsession. Knowing that people are going to get to see in. Trying to write and having nothing to say, so cementing obsessions instead.

Making home made tomato soup today. 

Making my own dress tomorrow. 

Serving people all night tonight.

Wasn’t there a programme called ‘1940’s House’?

A transformation. How much of someone can you really take in?

Watching Ginger Rogers. Changing my hair. How did it feel to wear a corset everyday? Not having the money to buy stockings so painting black lines down the back of my legs instead and hoping that no one noticed. That I had gotten them straight – I’m not the only one on the street who does this!

Day dreaming, wishing I had a different life whilst painting my nails, with a baby on my knee.

Getting up this morning I chased the mice out of the kitchen. I got my breakfast and sat in front of the radio. Changed nappies. Hand scrubbed my whites, and thought about nuclear war, about going to the moon, a supermarket trolley full of foreign goods, and all of the other actualities that no body had ever dreamed of.

Washing my hair with soap in the shower. Get it Setting, brushed my teeth with bicarbonate of Soda - then I'll blog it all down. 

A reflection

Throwing some caution to the wind I sat in a park requesting perfect strangers to sit and have tea and a chat with me. 

Thank god I brought the biscuits.

I worried the whole way there that it was too hot. That I was serving tea out of plastic beakers, not because I was being conscientious and green, but because I am poor and would quite like to be able to reuse them and save some money. Who ever drank tea out of plastic beakers? That people would think that I was trying to poison them. That it was too hot. That the tea was the wrong strength. That the milk would go off – why the hell didn’t I buy a cool bag?

That no body would talk to me. That complete weirdos would talk to me that I wouldn't know how to get rid of because I would be having a hot cup of tea with them.

What the hell am I doing? What would my mother say about the danger? Tea? In a park with perfect strangers?

How would I explain that one to them? How do you start the conversation? What was the point in this again?

Before I knew it I was on the tube with… oh dear – a beautifully hand crafted sign that said “Would you like to have tea with me?” It is a question mark not an exclamation mark because it is more inviting. I had my hair styled so that I felt a bit more like a projected persona and less like myself.

Block colour for the dress Laura – that way nothing will detract from your sign and face. Smile don’t forget to smile. 

Try not to think too deeply you look intimidating when you are thinking. 

Oh no not a blue dress it is a cold colour you need to wear something warm and friendly. Yes, red is for danger, but it’s your best colour.

“What is that for?” The sign drew attention. Then people were listening to me – smiling, well out right laughing at me actually, but without an ounce of malice. “You should have brought cake”

Thank god I brought the biscuits. People on tubes don't have time for tea, but they do have time for biscuits.

In the park I was pleasantly surprised. People wanted to talk to me! Well… more men actually, but perhaps the women are harder to get:

“What a splendid idea to offer people tea. Try a flash thing; or a sponsored tea. I work for a charity, just did a sponsored walk. Do you need old people? Have you met many interesting people? I had a heart bypass in 2004 you know, they’ve just found out that it is leaking again. I really like the theatre – I saw Billy Elliot. That’s from near you innit? The North? Yeah I’d like to go see another show really but I might have to have another operation – its harder to get to London then… No – my Mum. She lives near me so I’d stop with her. I have my own flat – have done for years but spend every Christmas with my Mum… Black tea reminds me of work – any jasmine?... No, where we’re from you wouldn’t worry about poison we have strong stomachs but without the jasmine perhaps I’ll pass.”

The oddest thing was that people wanted to know more. Would I be here weekly? Was I doing any other events? Everyone sounded rather enthusiastic at the thought of having a massive tea party in the park with whole groups of stranger… people like interacting more than I thought. And in case you are thinking what I would be thinking if I read this; no body mentioned dating services once!

I have my first little bundle of email addresses to keep people updated on my progress and perhaps attend more events.

Anyone in Green Park For Tea?...

... I think so!