"The Shizzle" Theatre company

As a member of "The Shizzle" Theatre company along with my colleagues, Nairac Peters, Ella Lucia Clark Cowan, Angelica Heath and Sophia Donnelly we decided to base our Site Specific performance piece around the themes of "tragedy" and the events that cause a situation to become "tragic" in society. As a group, we discussed elements of "tragedy" and the build up to a "tragic circumstance" and wanted to, through our performance piece, embody "entrapment" and "closure" for which we associated with "tragedy" and "loss". The space for which we wanted to devise from, therefore had to be small in size and claustrophobic in nature in order for our piece to work. For our original idea, we wanted to explore points in history for which we associated as "tragic" for example the holocaust and slavery to the July 7th bombings in London. However, after working with these stimuli for a number of devising sessions, we decided to change the theme of embracing "tragic" points in history through a train, to instead showing how "claustrophobia", "nausea" and "panic" could be exemplified through "small", "disturbing" and "narrow" spaces, within this context being a train. In order to successfully put forward this idea, we would have to acknowledge every "property" and "quality" of our Site in order to use the full capabilities and performance opportunities of the space.

The Site

Location of the Site
The Site for which myself and other members of "The Shizzle" Theatre company chose for our "Site Specific" performance piece is located in a small corridor that leads to the back stage of rooms, 413 and 415 in the Theatre Block of The Brit School. It's unique for its condensed and cramped nature which makes it a useful "hiding spot" and devising area for creating work true to the qualities of the Site. As opposed to other spaces in and/or around the BRIT School, this Site is at first glance hard to find, which makes it a unique and interesting place to devise a piece of Site Specific Performance.

Properties of the Site chosen
The three fire escape doors located on either side of the Site provide performance capabilities for us as a company, in that we can find ways of incorporating  the opening/closing of the doors into our devised piece as a way of symbolising entrapment and seclusion which can be shown through placing a performer behind one of the doors.The light switch on the left hand side of the Site entrance, provides technical capabilities for performance, allowing us as performers to use the lighting as a means of creating atmosphere and tension which will give an element of "theatrics" to our performance. In symbolising claustrophobia and paranoia, we could also switch the lights on/off. The lights also provide the opportunity to experiment with shadows and reflection, whilst the hard carpet on the floor provides opportunities for experimenting with friction and tension which could be useful in signifying "rough" times and the difficulty in relieving pressure, which will be explored through our devising material. 
The bench located right near to the entrance of the Site, will allow us as performers to experiment with levels and hierarchy and the pressure of an "oppressor".

Qualities of the Site chosen

The Site is very confined and restricted in space, which gives rise to feelings of claustrophobia. The darkness within the Site provides opportunities to experiment with controversial subject matter that may be depressing and also uncomfortable in nature and which will coincide with the natural atmosphere of the Site. The dark and confined nature of the Site also allows us to enforce the eerie and melancholic atmosphere that shrouds every corner of the performance space, which emits feelings of tension and vulnerability. As a whole, the Site is dark, enclosed, claustrophobic, eerie, silent and cosy which allows us as Theatre makers to create a piece which includes all of these performance elements. Through the "tight" and "enclosed" nature of the space for which we will be devising, the Site also emits the feelings of being "alone" and "trapped".

The doors of the Site are all black and parallel
to one another. The dark nature of the space in itself,
allows us as artisans to explore the dark and mysterious
themes this Site may hold. In exploring these themes further,
we could also use the doors as a means of trapping fellow performers
in order to further embrace the themes of "seclusion" and "entrapment".

The Ceiling within the Site is also dark
which blends in with the rest of the
dark space. The darkness also creates
the illusion of the ceiling appearing
never-ending. In terms of devising material, 
the darkness within the space, could be used to
embody "nausea" and the "fear of the unknown". 

The dark material that covers the floor within the Site
is "gritty" and "rough".The carpet blends in with the dark
colours of the Site and provides an uneven, disturbing
texture to the qualities of the Site which could be further
explored through the idea of "panic" and "confusion".

Relevant Sketches/Design Ideas for Site

Survey of the Site
In order to ensure maximum safety and productivity within our allocated space, as a company we had to make sure that the placement of our Site was fit for purpose so that an audience would be able to enjoy and experience all elements of our performance, whilst remaining in a safe, hazard free environment. As a company, my colleagues and I drew up blueprints of the overall scale of our Site, ensuring that all props etc. were in their allocated places and all other unnecessary equipment was safely away from the vicinity. By doing so, improved the overall understanding of our Site and its performance capabilities in terms of space and practicality.

This rough Sketch provides the "mapped" basic plans for how
myself and other members of "The Shizzle" wish the
production to be staged and audience to be placed etc.
The sketch also provides escape exits in case of a fire or
other hazardous incidents.

1.Secondary Research

Original material related to the Site
The overall idea for our Site Specific Performance was to base it upon a series of "tragic" events throughout history. From the claustrophobic and volatile qualities of our Site, we decided as a company to base our performance around trains. In particular, we would explore how trains were used to transport Slaves through an underground railroad during the African Slave Trade, Jewish people to the concentration camps during World War II and also the July 7th Bombing in London in 2005. In exploring this, we would use our site as a "carriage" for which we would reenact these events through a series of experimental role plays, embracing every property and quality of our Site.


Secondary Material related to the Site

The dark and ambiguous qualities of our
Site led to the idea of also using aspects of
the Holocaust in order to re-live the tragic events
of Jewish people being transported to Concentration
Camps during WWII. In order to use the extent of our
Site, we would explore its properties in order to deliver
a clear plot to our audience.



 

In exploring the theme of "tragedy" for our piece
of Site Specific Performance, my group and I
decided to use aspects of "Modern-Day"
tragic events in order to portray the ways
in which "tragedy" has changed over time.
In exemplifying this, we would challenge the
boundaries of "comfortable viewing" in order
to leave a lasting impression on our audience.

The cramped atmosphere of our Site
led to the idea of basing parts of our
Site Specific Performance around the
transportation of Slaves to and from
parts of the United States during the Slave
Trade. We would attempt this by physically
showing our contempt for the "restricted space".

2.Secondary Research

Updated Secondary Material
In the events leading up to the last remaining devising lessons, the company and I decided to change the idea of basing our "tragic" circumstances around certain points in history regarding transportation to instead embodying the themes of "panic", "confusion" and "chaos" in relation to cramped, crowded conditions on a train and how claustrophobia could result in "shock" and "confusion". We decided to change and shape our ideas, for the basis of being able to extract more material and feedback from our latest scenario which may to an audience seem more effective and personal. In doing so, we would be able to use the whole range of our Site and its performance capabilities.

The doors and small windows
created the illusion of captivity and
isolation. As a group, we would
take advantage of these performance
possibilities in order to create an interesting
and diverse performance piece that embodied
and presented panic for an audience. Similar
to the idea of the "tube", we would present the
sounds of the tracks in a sound scape
ranging our crescendo as a means to presenting
the level of panic being established.

An example of how we were staging our performance
within the Site. As a group, we were constantly coming
up with ideas for how we would be able to use our bodies
as a means of creating "cramped" and "closed in" conditions.
This idea allowed us as theatre makers to experiment with a
diverse range of movement types in order to build up to the
eventual "tragic" panic section of our performance. 

Devising Process

Personal role and contribution to the Devising Process.
For our devising process, I was able to offer up knowledgeable help and advice concerning the outcome of our Site Specific Performance. For instance, I was able to to come up with and agree with my group on the idea of basing our piece around "tragic" circumstances/elements.
In order to bring this to life, we decided to as a group to use music as a means of further expressing the themes of seclusion and loss experienced from "tragedy". We decided to use the song "tragedy" by the Bee Gees as a way of implicitly sharing our themes whilst incorporating them in the basis of our performance. This idea would be incorporated in the opening of our performance as a way of exemplifying the anti-social nature of commuters on public transportation unaware of impending catastrophe.
Another one of my ideas was to use the surrounding properties of our site as a means of enhancing our overall performance. For example, the lockers to the left of the entrance to our site, provided the sound qualities of a "tube" train moving over the tracks. Incorporating the lockers into our performance through a "sound scape" provided both an interesting audible and visual experience for our audience.

Developing work as a group and how I made decisions in relation to the Site
In the later stages of the rehearsal period, my group and I decided to change certain aspects of our performance in order to relate more broadly to the concept of "tragedy". In shaping and changing vital aspects of our performance, we agreed that the concept of a "Group Leader" would be beneficial in making vital decisions in relation to the outcome of our performance. It was agreed that all ideas would be validated with the group leader in order to ensure that the aim of our concept was met to a high degree. In relation to the Site, we had to make sure that all ideas and concepts were accessible with the amount of space allocated in our Site. 
Another way in which we made decisions in relation to the Site as a group was by, improvising short sections of scenes that had had little, to no work put into them, whereby we would filter out what ideas worked in relation to the scene, sifting out unwanted elements of our performance. This helped to broaden both our direction and understanding of our performance piece and how we were going to merge certain ideas/element together in order to make cohesive work that related to the concept of "tragedy".

Making decisions in relation to image, sound, physical performance, character, narrative, costume and space during the rehearsal period.
Making decisions in relation to the aesthetics of our performance piece in the rehearsal period was relatively straightforward. In shaping our Site with relevance to a "train", "image" and "sound" was moulded to suit the cramped and claustrophobic surroundings of our interior. We were able to conjure "sound" from both musical elements and soundscapes created by our voices. We moulded and shaped our physicality to determine the mood and atmosphere being given off in certain aspects of our performance, which helped in breaking up dialogue which in the context of experimenting with the qualities being given off our site, may have hindered our final product.
In terms of "narrative", we used "found objects" such as a "tube map" which we found on the floor of our Site, to determine the overall structure of our performance. The panic and hysteria built up throughout parts of our performance was successful in foreshadowing the theme of "tragedy" with which we wanted to emphasise. In terms of "character" we wanted to use physical representations of real commuters on a train juxtaposed with experimental scenery and plot. Our "costumes" therefore would have to be ordinary in order to focus our audiences attention on rather the surroundings of our Site and its qualities.

Evaluation

In terms of our performance piece, my group and I were hopeful of the outcome. We had made sure during earlier rehearsal sessions that our material was relevant and adhered to our theme of "tragedy". Our final performance piece exceeded our expectations in terms of the ways we embodied our characters and responded to properties within our Site. 
Parts of our performance that seemed weak during our rehearsal process, were displayed with complete conviction and belief in the surroundings during our final performance. One element that we as a group were particularly proud of, was our immersive audience interaction. The general look of exasperation and bewilderment on audience members faces, exemplified the extent to which we as individuals had gone in order to create an uncomfortable, stifling atmosphere for which we had pieced together from the general dark, dismal qualities of our Site.

In terms of improving upon certain scenes/elements within our performance, I believe that we could have spent less time in rehearsal lessons discussing ideas and basis for our performance and should have from earlier on, devised from organic improvisation in order to generate more practical material for performance. This in itself, would have sped up our devising process so that we would have more time improving the overall quality of our performance.

During our performance, I felt as if the material we had generated in our rehearsal process had enhanced our creative initiative for bringing our "Site to life". As an actor, I felt that I was able to connect with the audience through the diverse immersive nature of our performance and emotional content which provided an overall isolated atmosphere which adhered to the nature of our Site.

Overall, I felt as if the content we had produced for our performance, helped us shape and develop a story which was both engaging,enticing and gripping for an audience. Through these elements, I believe we were able to create a piece which used a wide range of qualities for Site Specific Performance.