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Final Post

Throughout the process, my primary aim for the show was to tell the audience a detailed and light-hearted story that was interactive and engaging. I felt I did this successfully. My performance has seen many alterations – going from an elaborate set with projections and three stories to symbolic props, focused on a single story. Nevertheless, I believe this worked in the best interest of my performance. By focusing on one story, I was able to have more detail and depth without feeling as if I was rushing the story. This is significant as being able to hear and having time to imagine everything I said was vital for a full appreciation of my show. Early in the process, I was concerned that my piece would not be well received by the audience for being either too self-indulgent or simply boring. However, by making use of symbolic items and embodying my dad at various points throughout the performance, I believe I was able to add light-hearted moments that made the story much more interesting for the audience.

In some ways, I wish that I would have allowed more people to attend my show – as limiting the tickets to five people meant quite a few people who wanted to come and see it were not able to. However, by doing so it may have had a negative effect on the closeness that having such a limited audience created. By inviting the audience into my living room and performing within such proximity, I felt it added intimacy my performance – an aspect that I felt was important in an autobiographical piece.

If I were to perform my show again, I would like to have more time to include the remaining stories that were cut from the script due to time constraints. Moreover, I would like to add more description to some areas where I felt could have been defined better – such as the plank that I would have like to talk about in more detail. Additionally, I would like to involve more areas of self-mocking to involve additional areas of comedy to the show. Furthermore, having more time to rehearse with the space and props would have helped make each transition smoother and generally make the performance feel more polished.

I believe it would also be interesting to open the show up to a wider audience to see how that effected the storytelling and whether it damaged the piece at all. I would also like to experiment with an array of lighting and sound effects (as a means of involving the audience more so and aiding the storytelling).

Overall, I believe my show was well received and, therefore, I feel my performance was successful in conveying a fun and eventful story to the audience.

Technical Requirements

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

An image showing the sofa and one of the tub chairs where the audience will sit. The chairs will also have throws on them in the final piece.
An image showing the sofa and one of the tub chairs where the audience will sit. The chairs will also have throws on them in the final piece.

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.
An image showing the coffee table and smaller props that will be placed on it throughout.
An image showing the coffee table and smaller props that will be placed on it throughout.

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.

An image demonstrating the orange hue lighting.
An image demonstrating the orange hue lighting.

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.

Mucking About Session

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.

An image of the battery powered fan I will be using in the performance.
An image of the battery powered fan I will be using in the performance.

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.

An image of the snorkelling mask I will be using in the performance.
An image of the snorkelling mask I will be using in the performance.

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.

Creating the Plank

One of my key props that helps illustrate the story/location is the plank of wood over the swamp. As such, I wanted the plank to look authentic to how I remembered it. After purchasing the wood, I also purchased some mahogany wood varnish, sanding paper and various paints.

The first step I took was to apply two layers of the varnish to the wood to give it a richer colour and appearance. However, as the image demonstrates below, this made the wood look too much like furniture – rather than a battered old plank of wood.

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Therefore, the next process was to make the wood look old and damaged. Using a hammer, nails, sanding paper and my keys, I scratched, smoothed down and dented the plank. This meant that when applying the next layer of paint or varnish, it would get caught in some of the more damaged areas, giving the wood more texture.

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After I had done sufficient damage to the plank, I began to add a layer of different coloured paints including blue, green and black. The paint was perfect for getting into the dents and scratches and accentuating the damage. I then sanded the plank after the paint had dried and applied another layer of varnish. However, this time I blended the varnish with black and white paint to create a dark grey/brown colour. As I was applying this over the other layers of paint, I could make the plank have subtle tones of blue and green – suggesting that it has been used for other things whilst accentuating the damage (particularly on the edges).

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I let the final layer dry for an hour and the result can be seen in the image below.

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I was very happy with this result as it resembled the plank that I remember. Afterwards, I applied a few extra layers of grey paint to make the plank seem more damaged and sun soaked. Otherwise, I am happy with the plank and think it will substantially aid the storytelling for the audience.

Rehearsing the Text

Below is a sound clip of the entire text as I have currently been rehearsing it. This version includes all additions made to the final script (alongside some small sections of ad-lib). Moreover, every sound effect that I intend to create using my voice has been included in this recording. As I continue to rehearse, I am working on manipulating my voice in new and interesting ways to keep the text fresh and so that the final performance with have a variety of voice modulation (so that the story does not come across monotone).

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

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