Today I had my tech session, in which I sorted out the final set and technical requirements for my show.

In the staging area, there is:

• A wooden chair, which I sit on as I open and close the show, as well as demonstrating the car journey.
• A coffee table which is used to hold some smaller props and further demonstrate a homely environment.
• A plank of wood which is used to symbolise the bridge in the story.
• A bucket which will have a small amount of water that I can flick at the audience when falling into the swamp.
• A snorkelling mask which I put on whilst swimming in the swamp to aid the storytelling.

The audience will be restricted to five viewers (plus two examiners) to help create an enclosed atmosphere. They will sit on either a sofa or one of two tub chairs, all of which are red (matching my own living room at home) and will be covered by throws that I have collected from home. By doing so, I hope to authentically recreate my living room at home, adding to the intimacy of the piece.

There are four key lighting states throughout the show which will change to suit the locations and assist with the storytelling. At the beginning, the only light will be on the audience and once they have settled, the neutral light will fade in on the ‘staging area’. The lighting on the audience will fade out. The natural light changes to a warmer orange hue after I have introduced the piece and have moved into the story (as a representative of the sun). Upon entering the forest whilst in the car, a dark green hue will fade in to suggest the car has been ‘enveloped’ by the trees. Afterwards, the lighting with switch back to the orange hue and will remain until I fall into the swamp. During this section, the sound of Cicadas will play in the background (subtlety so that I can speak over it) to imply the outdoors. This sound will fade out when I begin to cross over the bridge. Upon falling in the swamp, the light will snap to a mix of light green and dark orange (to make the transition between falling in more obvious as well as creating a murky brown colour). During Robert Frost’s poem, the lighting will remain as the warm orange hue. Once I have sat down after the poem, the lighting will reset to the opening ‘neutral’ state to show that I am back in the living room. The show ends as I put down the photo album, and the light on me fades, leaving the audience in light.

Now all that remains is to continue to rehearse the piece and make sure that every transition is clear.

After my mucking about session today, a few key changes/decisions have been made to my performance so that it is better suited to the space and my intentions with the piece.

The first, and most notable change, is that I have decided to remove projections from the piece for several reasons. For one, I felt that the pictures I had would not help convey the story or add any depth to my description of the locations. Secondly, I felt it would look odd to have a huge screen being projected on when I was trying to create an enclosed living room atmosphere (I did think about using a television instead of a projector, but as stated above, I did not feel it would necessarily add anything to my story). Finally, as my piece is so heavily centred around the storytelling and the breadth of the text, I wanted the audience to be more focused on what I was saying – whereas a projector may have acted as a distraction. I want the audience to vividly imagine the places that I am describing rather than simply showing them, so that they become a more active participant in the show.

Instead of having the audience look at pictures on the projector, I will be looking through a photo album at the start of show. Early on, I may show this to the audience but it is primarily to assist with the description of my dad’s bookcase. I felt this suited my piece better and helped to create a home-like atmosphere. Furthermore, by looking through the photo albums, it helps to frame my piece as it is the photo albums which stir my memories.

I decided to remove the coffee table and biscuits from the piece as I felt that it would create a divide between the audience and me. My primary goal with the piece is to have an intimate relationship with the audience as I am telling the story, and for them to be able to imagine themselves in the scenarios I am describing. As such, I felt the coffee table would create a barrier between the audience and myself – removing the connection that I intended to have with the audience.

I have settled on having a max audience of five with one sofa and two matching chairs. These will be facing diagonally towards one of the studio walls, creating the effect of an enclosed space whilst allowing room for a ‘staging area‘ and an array of lighting. I have considered adding a lamp in the staging area to add natural light to the scene, though I am yet to find one.

I have also added a few small props to the piece in hope of creating light-hearted moments for the audience. As I say about leaning out of the car window and having the window blow through my hair, I am going to pull out a small portable fan to create the effect of wind. Moreover, as a child I used to have a small battery fan that I would bring on holiday thereby creating a subtle link to my memories of Menorca in general. Additionally, when I fall into the swamp I am going to wear a snorkelling mask and mime swimming about to accentuate how long I felt I was in the water. Again, this is reminiscent of my holidays in Menorca, adding another layer of depth to the exploration of my memories.

Currently these are all the changes I have made to the piece, as I continue to rehearse I may make additional changes and will update my blog accordingly.

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Giggs, J. (2015) Menorcan Sea. Unpublished Photograph.