South Bank Tea and The Scratch: Rain, Rain, Rain!

Well... this is what happened to me last week trying to do South Bank Tea...

I got pissed on (haha)! Rain and tea don't go together very well! 

Eventually the sun came out long enough for me to get a two-in-one tea participant outside the Tate Modern.

An amazing lady stopped with a little girl (who had the best suggestions when it came to my project). It turned out that my tea participant had just put up her painting exhibition at the Barbican (the lady not the little girl). We chatted about art and morals, and I tried to explain empathy to a seven year old; which as it turns out is a great way to see whether you truly understand something yourself! 

I did intend to try the 'I'm a 40 year old man' tactic - but my participant didn't need any encouragement in opening up and telling me a story. It was like she had a sixth sense for what I was doing and jumped right in. This lady even gave me an idea for a similar project that she has been thinking of herself, but not being a performer, said she would find it difficult. I now have her card, so you never know where that might lead. I love having tea with strangers - you never know who you are going to meet. 

I think that I definitely want to try and have more conversations with children as my project progresses - Holly (the girl) came up with things that I would never have thought of. I want to spend more time thinking about the potential role of children in this work... but right now have to skip ahead a bit and think about the scratch; so will have to revisit.

I tried to do Oxford Tea this weekend and went on my merry little way to find the Brother's in Yarn in Henly-on-Thames with the hope of having tea with them as part of their project.... the rain came down and stopped the tea and the Brother's in Yarn cancelled the rest of their tour anyway! So no luck this weekend :o(

After feeling a little panicky about this project recently, I have had to take a step back in order to be able to do the scratch. I have been trying to put what I have done so far into a 'show' as that is what I envisage the final show to end up being; this is what I understand the scratch to be for... but it seems to be causing me problems. What is it that is making me panic about the project?

I feel like I have tried to run ahead of myself by putting a 'show' together, it just hasn't happened for me - and now I am worried that the project isn't going to work at all. As Doug would put it "I need talking off a ledge" (which hasn't actually happened for a while)!

Anyway - backing away from the ledge - I have gone back and reread my original proposal that I gave for the diploma stage assessments. One sentence that I wrote really jumped out at me; "The process in creating Organic Theatre is as, if not more important than the final product".

I think that I have simply forgotten that process is the key here. I need to acknowledge where I am at with this project (which is not a bad place to be in as it is progressing) and keep moving forward. I have been trying to drastically change the shape of the work, and force it into something that it isn't yet.

I set up the project in such a way that each stage of the process would be performative in its own right. Each stage organically evolving into the next until it is at a stage where I am happy to put it into a more traditional 'stage show'; which, at this stage, I have to acknowledge, may end up not being the right format for the work. Naturally I am going to encounter problems if I force myself into doing something with the work that isn't right for it at this stage. 

I have decided to stick to one-to-ones for now. I am going to embed the scratch in the process, rather than producing something abstracted from the project specifically for it. I think that it will be interesting to try tea with people that I know and in less of a public setting. 

I also think that now is a good time to get some real feedback on the work that I have been doing to help me progress with the project... and stay back from that ledge!! :o)

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