Yesterday we did an exercise where we all picked 3 things for each piece and also the outside space that we liked best. These are kind of key moments or themes to work from, and are really helpful in highlighting which images, sounds, movements and interactions are most potent. In the afternoon Katie and I did a lot of walking around the park thinking and talking – kind of rambling whilst rambling.
As directors we’re trying a new thing, attempting to play to our individual strengths, with Katie leading the first part (generating material) and me the second part (editing and fine-tuning). During this week we are transitioning into me leading rehearsals – freeing Katie to talk to our designers and think about the broader picture.
Today was my first day. We looked at the arm piece in the morning and the neck piece in the afternoon using some of our key moments list as a guide.
The morning was hard work partly because I had left the ‘set’ up from the previous days impro, which although very helpful yesterday was quite contraining today. In the afternoon I totally cleared the space, so we could look at our use of space with fresh eyes. We enjoyed ourselves, found some interesting things and I felt quite emotional after taking part in the dressing.
Poor Katie ended up doing boring financial stuff to keep the company running. Hopefully tomorrow she’ll get to communicate with Rania, Alexandra and Ben.
Now my head is buzzing with images and words and shapes and possibilities. I’m going to do a bit more work in preparation for tomorrow and then watch and engrossing film. I find it really exciting when it gets to this stage in the process, my head seems to kick in again, like it does in the very early conceptual stages, or the first week in devising. The only problem is stopping it when you need to get some rest!