As I addressed in Writing the Text (Part 3), I am yet to find a conclusion for my piece. Throughout my search for a story or poem that I felt would create a fitting ending, I came across Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken, a poem that immediately caught my attention as it was not only about journeys (and not knowing where they will end up) but also about how we romanticise the stories we tell to make them more dramatic. After reading it several times and coming to my own understanding of the poem, I decided to research how others have responded to the text.

One article I found particularly interesting from David Orr, was the allegation that the poem is often misinterpreted. He states that “Everyone knows Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”—and almost everyone gets it wrong.” (Orr, 2015). Throughout the article, Orr criticises the common opinion of the poem being about a journey advocating that it is wrong to say it “is a straightforward and sentimental celebration of individualism” and that “this interpretation is contradicted by the poem’s own lines”. (Orr, 2015). Orr therefore interprets that the “poem isn’t a salute to can-do individualism; it’s a commentary on the self-deception we practice when constructing the story of our own lives” (Orr, 2015) an impression I had already got upon reading the poem. Orr concludes by saying that the poem embodies both meanings (despite the “poem’s own lines”). He concludes:

“The poem both is and isn’t about individualism, and it both is and isn’t about rationalization. It isn’t a wolf in sheep’s clothing so much as a wolf that is somehow also a sheep, or a sheep that is also a wolf. It is a poem about the necessity of choosing that somehow, like its author, never makes a choice itself—that instead repeatedly returns us to the same enigmatic, leaf-shadowed crossroads.” (Orr, 2015).

Regardless of how the audience interpret the poem, I felt that it was very fitting to my piece. This is because my text is very much about the journey and choice, but is told in a way which romanticises the action much like how Orr says the poem is about “self-deception” (Orr, 2015). As such, I have decided to use Frost’s poem in order to end the piece to draw attention to my journey, choices and self-deception. The poem therefore adds a self-mocking element to the piece, which I feel is important as I am trying to avoid becoming overly self-indulgent. Over the following days, I will be adding the poem to my text and rehearsing its implementation.

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Robert Frost Image:

Biography (2017) Robert Frost Biography [Online]. Available from http://www.biography.com/people/robert-frost-20796091 [accessed 15 April 2017].

Frost, R. (2012) The Road Not Taken and Other Poems. New York: Courier Corporation.

Orr, D. (2015) The Most Misread Poem in America. The Paris Review, 11 September. Available from https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/09/11/the-most-misread-poem-in-america/ [accessed 15 April 2017].

Whilst researching solo artists, I came across a series of videos by Michael Rosen, a children’s novelist and poet. In these videos, Rosen acts out and animates the stories from his books in a way that I found inspiring. Below is one of his videos:

Whilst the content is fictional, the way in which Rosen tells his story may be influential to how I tell my own story. Throughout his work, Rosen animates his stories with exaggerated facial expressions, physicalisation of movements and sound effects made with his voice.

Though I do not think I will use exaggerated facial expressions to the same extent as Rosen, it is something I will consider incorporating in my work. I find the way in which he physicalises actions with his hands, alongside his use of sound effects, effective storytelling devices that allow the audience to become more involved in the performance. As such, I may wish to use these techniques in my performance. This will aid in making the piece more interesting and engrossing, something that is still a concern with my performance.

I also appreciate the level of detail within the text, an aspect which I believe makes Rosen’s videos more appealing. Due to this, when thinking about my own story, I will use vivid descriptions of locations and romanticise the action, so as to add an extra layer of intrigue for the audience. Furthermore, Rosen’s delivery is moderately fast paced which I think will best suit my piece – permitting a lot of detail whilst also allowing a consistent flow of varying content. This is all in aid of making my performance as detailed and engaging as possible.

Therefore, Michael Rosen’s work has been a significant influence on my work and has significantly changed how I wish to go about the storytelling in my own piece. My priority with the performance is to have a high level of detail so that the audience can easily depict the scenarios I am describing.

All in all, it is vital that my performance is highly descriptive so that the audience can effortlessly visualise everything in the story, which I believe adds a level of interactivity to my piece.

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Michael Rosen Image:

DEED (2016) Michael Rosen [Online]. Available from http://www.deed.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Michael-Rosen.jpg [accessed 24 March 2017]

Kids’ Poems and Stories With Michael Rosen (2008) No Breathing In Class – Michael Rosen

. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1cfVQyrQ3Q [accessed March 24 2017].

As my piece is starting to veer more towards storytelling, I decided to research Chris Goode and his work – as his performances are heavily based around storytelling. Though he has worked solo for many shows, he also has his own ensemble company, Chris Goode and Company.

Speaking about his process to find and create ideas, Goode said that “The process always begins in the same way: it starts in a room with some smart people and the will to create a space for a conversation. I usually have a hunch about something I want to explore… Everything after that depends on my collaborators, and the news, and the weather.” (Goode, 2011).

Below is a clip from The Adventures of Woundman and Shirley, a show that I find interesting in how it is told. The storytelling aspects used by Goode are techniques I am thinking of using for my performance. Something that I believe is particularly interesting with this performance is the level of detail concerning every movement and location:

Though he has stated that he does not always find it easy to take strong political and artistic opinions and make them into a process, he has also shared his view that theatre is a place “to create real liveable experiences of models for political and personal change”. (Goode, 2011). He also said that “Theatre can have a crucial role in reimagining our social relations. What we do all day has never felt more important”. (Goode, 2011). His work is therefore very much a reflection on his own political and artistic views.

Goode has been termed an alternative theatre maker – a term that was founded in the late 1960s to early 1970s. It’s meaning relates to a movement that opposed mainstream theatre. Alternative performances were created with a specific set of theatrical ideas that opposed the stereotypical theatrical experience. Goode’s performances therefore remove the security and comfort that audiences had become accustomed to, and asks them to think beyond what they are seeing on the stage.

Goode advises new theatre makers to stay curious about current ideas and experiences and that it is important to analyse everything – “Always be kind in the work room. Only work with people who are smarter than you and don’t mind getting naked.” (Goode, 2011). Furthermore, he says that the process should be a place of romance, lightness and acceptance. Don’t be afraid to aspire to significance. (Goode, 2011).

Chris Goode keeps a blog of his work in which he expresses his political and societal opinions: http://beescope.blogspot.co.uk/. Speaking about theatre, Goode said that he is “really fascinated by the ways in which we imagine theatre — not the content or detail of any particular instance of theatre, but more generally theatre as a practice or a social act — and the metaphors by which those imaginings get passed around, become realised as material, as architecture and infrastructure and organization.” (Goode, 2014).

Whilst I have no intentions of my performance challenging the conventions of theatre, I have been inspired by Chris Goode to consider a new method of storytelling in which detail is vital. Over the coming weeks, I am going to try writing a text on which my performance can be based – relating to my own personal experiences of my holiday. I intend to focus on every detail so that the audience can vividly imagine the world that I am describing, much like Goode’s work.

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Chris Goode Image:

Abrahams, J. (2014) Chris Goode in ‘Men in the Cities’ [Online]. Available at https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/article_small/public/thumbnails/image/2014/08/08/12/chris-good.jpg [Accessed 16 March]

Chris Goode (2014) In My Room [blog]. 24 March. Available from: http://beescope.blogspot.co.uk/ [accessed 16 March].

Goode, C. (2011) Chris Goode: Maverick Theatre. Interviewed by E. Turney for Ideas Tap. Available from: http://www.ideastap.com/ideasmag/the-knowledge/chris-goode-interview [accessed 16 March].

Hull Truck Theatre (2012) The Adventures of Woundman and Shirley. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud5jsvC1x4g [accessed 16 March].