I shall not use this particular post to whinge on or try and catch up about what's been going on (I shall utilise the next one - ha!). I want to write about a workshop I did, and the subsequent performance, for which I drew on material regarding my procrastination which was really well received - an unexpected bonus..
In one of those serendipitous moments I was in the library and picked up a brochure for The Basement Theatre in Brighton and the first page I turned to saw they were running a Quickfire Workshop led by the fabulous Stacy Makishi where each participant would be required to produce a brand new piece to be performed at the Supper Club there the following day. I knew immediately that this was something I wanted to do and would provide a great kick up the bum out of my comfort zone and do something different, so I applied and was delighted to get a place.
The workshop itself was pleasantly cosy and small (good, because I think a few of us felt daunted enough!) with perhaps seven or eight of us, mostly girls. It also included Andy from my Acting Diploma, who brought with him a gimp mask for old times sake (more on that later!). Stacy Makishi was tiny tornado of energy, incredibly telling us she'd just turned 50 but looking more like 25. I confess I was not familiar with her work before the workshop, but I loved her off-kilter approach to things and her fluid and organic way of working through ideas which a less courageous person (i.e. most of us) would reject as ludicrous (they are; they're also brilliant! That's an important lesson right there).
We did a lot of movement type exercises exploring sounds and gestures representing us at our worst, most lethargic, stuck, paranoid etc and communicating that to another and then them adopting the same and turning it into a positive counterpart sound/gesture. Although I am aware that to the theatrically uninitiated this might sound somewhat bizarre but it is an excellent way of giving a voice to feelings which are often stored in the body and can stagnate, unnamed and keep us stuck. Then came the first of several zero-preparation performances we had to do to the rest of the group based on our worst performing fears and anxieties about what others think of our theatrical offerings. The subject for discussion just prior to this was "what is the utterly worst thing you could overhear about yourself, post performance if you were at the bar?". It ranged from 'pretentious' or 'pointless' to 'pathetic'. Mine was 'painful' (I wonder if it's significant they all begin with 'P'?!) I've casually commented to another whilst watching a particularly tedious production that "I had to gnaw my own hand off in order to remain sane", and since that is the worst thing I can think about anyone's offerings, I would find it devastating to hear said about me.
We were then instructed to perform 'pointless', 'pathetic', 'pretentious' and 'painful' with absolutely no preparation time which was marvelously freeing and of course utterly terrifying! Everybody's offering was hilarious with ludicrous actorly posturings or pompous singing and so on. I had no idea what my 'painful' performance was going to be but when it was my turn, I looked down and saw I was holding my page-a-day diary. Now once upon a time (not so long ago) I never used a diary at all and could never see the point in them (and then wondered why I kept missing appointments etc), but now my relationship to my TWO diaries is rich and complex as has been discussed in depth in earlier posts. Clutching said diary in my hand I urged my 'audience' to gather around the stage as this was to be a 'proper painful performance' and reminded them to switch off their phones. Waiting until I had their full attention, I opened a page at random (February 12th as it happens) and read from my diary:
Up 8:30: 5 points
Breakfast - well I was going to have that anyway - 1 point
Email medical peeps: 2 points
Read through job application: 5 points
FROG: read chapter of Charlotte Charke plus notes: 10 + 5 points
TASK: clear shelf - not done
Pancakes!: 2 points
etc..etc
As you can see, it made little sense and felt bloody painful to me reading it out, and where as most people's 'dreadful performances' lasted about 30 seconds, I really stretched this out for what seemed like five painful minutes, but probably wasn't. Eventually I said "is this painful enough for you?" "No!" came the response - everybody was eagerly watching and seemed to be wanting more! Later some suggested I take it further...
So very organically we worked through what performances we would do for the Supper Club and indeed how they would flow from one to another, all under Stacy's intuitive directive eye. One of the participants Liz, did not know what she would do until the day of the performance and during her panic, realised she was avoiding her 'frog' and as soon as she took care of that, the better she felt and also realised that her piece should be as a response to mine and was a very visual piece of her attempting to find and put on her shoes from the inside of a sleeping bag whilst talking about 'the Frog'!. My piece had evolved to me sitting on a chair and telling the audience about my 'Fool Proof Twelve Step Procrastination Busting Programme' going through each step from admitting you have a problem to describing the concept of 'the Frog' (and the importance of eating it!) and the points system. At this stage I take out a gimp mask and feed myself marzipan (in the form of Battenberg cake) through it! It went down rather well and I had some great comments from people who came up to me afterwards who came up and said how much they'd enjoyed it and that they found it very "random" and funny. It was a great evening, I loved the Supper Club with its weird and eclectic bunch of performers and performance installations held in separate rooms, compared by Stacy who also made love to a cabbage on stage and gave birth to a sprout.
So in conclusion, if nothing else - my complicated and bizarre relationship with my diary and my procrastination, including my personal take on the system originally 'imposed' by Johan has produced MATERIAL which has the potential to be developed into an entertaining show!
Footnote: Irritatingly, I continue to procrastinate; the workshop was held on the 5th April, the Supper Club the evening after. I wrote half on this last week and it's now the 26th and for some reason I can't publish it. My blog is off-line and I don't know why..... Grrr
