Theatre as a context for experimentation

Week 1 (26 Sep 2019)

The scarily accomplished Deborah Pearson started our first session with a check in, establishing a reassuring familiarity for me – both in our practice together and in the studio (FADS).  

​A safe space to work already set up in the first few minutes.
 
We shared some of our favourite inspirational things – writing key words on slips of paper and then choosing someone else’s to hear why it inspired. I still have the scraps of paper, there is a bizarre safety for me in keeping artefacts.  I was slightly ashamed that I had unconsciously chosen three very male performances, Harvey Andrews ‘Unaccompanied’, the haka in Burnham and a dance duo from the States whose names I still can’t recall.
 
This led later to me re-watching Nina Simone live.  I want her courage as well as her talent. Her inspiration will have to be enough. The words that jump from my notes are revealing: shame, trust, archbitch of the universe, the grey lizard of doom and 'do the scary shit'.
 
After working on our own personal manifestos we created one together (see SCRAPBOOK) and closed our session with a check out.  Deb seemed much less scary, even if I was left worrying about showing my teeth.
 
In the afternoon in SLP (student led practice) I had a chance to direct the other performance lab rats in preparation for a performance they would do in front of Selina Thompson.  We started to connect as a group - but I did feel like everyone's eccentric great aunt.