After a long absence (and much-needed) vacation, at last we are proud to present video documentation of Tracking Shot.
Follow this link to Vimeo through here to view the video.
Although this video only partly shares with you the experience of the show itself, I hope it gives an idea of the scenographic and dramaturgical details of the performance.
Unless we are able to glean more documentation of the May performances, this will be the last post on the blog for now. Unless of course we are able at some point in the unforseen future to return to the stage with this show.
Thank you all for your support.
This is Ruchita Madhok signing out. Good luck and good night!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Production Stills
Some pictures from Sunday night's first performance. Many thanks to Trish Lyons who came all the way from Florence for the show!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
"It will be like like brushing your teeth..."
Ruchita's diary
That was what Pete said when we looked at him in horror at the news that we would have to do 3 shows a night. And now we find out that we are going to do 4!
It was a lot easier than we expected though. Backstage tension was running high during dress rehearsal yesterday but by the time we got to the opening show, we were confident and focussed. Of course, there were the odd glitches but all 3 shows went off really well. It hasn't been easy getting to this point and every run felt like a marathon because we were so tired from the last few weeks of work, but after a full night's rest and plenty of time to relax, I think we're all set and ready for the next 4 shows tonight.
Thank you all for your support both online and offline. A special HEY! to our classmates on other placements and many thanks to the fantastic team at Inteatro that have supported us all through this journey.
See you on stage!
That was what Pete said when we looked at him in horror at the news that we would have to do 3 shows a night. And now we find out that we are going to do 4!
It was a lot easier than we expected though. Backstage tension was running high during dress rehearsal yesterday but by the time we got to the opening show, we were confident and focussed. Of course, there were the odd glitches but all 3 shows went off really well. It hasn't been easy getting to this point and every run felt like a marathon because we were so tired from the last few weeks of work, but after a full night's rest and plenty of time to relax, I think we're all set and ready for the next 4 shows tonight.
Thank you all for your support both online and offline. A special HEY! to our classmates on other placements and many thanks to the fantastic team at Inteatro that have supported us all through this journey.
See you on stage!
Opening Night
Pete Brooks' diary
We opened the show last night. There were 3 performances lasting 35 minutes each to an audience of 6. Not surprisingly the performances are all completely sold out and we have been asked whether we could manage 4 shows each evening. This seems quite reasonable. We can start the first show at 8.30 (any earlier and the theatre which has a domed fabric roof is not really dark enough). The second show would be at 9.20 then 10.10 with the last show at 11.00 as advertised. Even if the company call is at 7.00 this is still only a four and a half hour call, but of course without breaks.
The show went well. I push the audience truck so my perspective on the performance is fairly compromised. Pushing the truck is very hard work and on every run there were sticky moments when the thing wouldn't move. It is however no worse than I expected. The group has been excellent, there have of course been tensions but no more than in a professional company. It has been an ambitious project, and we have arrived at the end point. No one died and we have made an original, engaging and rather unusual piece of work. Tonight the press come. This has been my first experience of blogging and contributing has been painless.This however will be my last entry; I want to read Vassilly Grossman's Life and Fate before I leave here so that will I think fully occupy my non working moments. I will make sure that any reviews are posted and some production stills attached.
So to all of you out there reading this we don't know who you are but we do know where you are (the blog analytics are fascinating) thanks for reading.
Ciao.
We opened the show last night. There were 3 performances lasting 35 minutes each to an audience of 6. Not surprisingly the performances are all completely sold out and we have been asked whether we could manage 4 shows each evening. This seems quite reasonable. We can start the first show at 8.30 (any earlier and the theatre which has a domed fabric roof is not really dark enough). The second show would be at 9.20 then 10.10 with the last show at 11.00 as advertised. Even if the company call is at 7.00 this is still only a four and a half hour call, but of course without breaks.
The show went well. I push the audience truck so my perspective on the performance is fairly compromised. Pushing the truck is very hard work and on every run there were sticky moments when the thing wouldn't move. It is however no worse than I expected. The group has been excellent, there have of course been tensions but no more than in a professional company. It has been an ambitious project, and we have arrived at the end point. No one died and we have made an original, engaging and rather unusual piece of work. Tonight the press come. This has been my first experience of blogging and contributing has been painless.This however will be my last entry; I want to read Vassilly Grossman's Life and Fate before I leave here so that will I think fully occupy my non working moments. I will make sure that any reviews are posted and some production stills attached.
So to all of you out there reading this we don't know who you are but we do know where you are (the blog analytics are fascinating) thanks for reading.
Ciao.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Tonight's the night!
Ruchita's diary
After a costume run on Wednesday night, we realised that we needed to finesse our acting and sync it better to the wagon movements so last night was all about pinning down the details. The staggered rehearsal lasted almost the whole day but I'm confident that we have a good show in place. We had hoped that we would be able to do just one run-through today but unfortunately there is still a lot to be done. The tension is so think you could cut it with a knife! We have 2 run throughs and a rehearsal with Cecilia on the cards before the opening performance at 9pm tonight.
9 hours and counting down. See you all there!
After a costume run on Wednesday night, we realised that we needed to finesse our acting and sync it better to the wagon movements so last night was all about pinning down the details. The staggered rehearsal lasted almost the whole day but I'm confident that we have a good show in place. We had hoped that we would be able to do just one run-through today but unfortunately there is still a lot to be done. The tension is so think you could cut it with a knife! We have 2 run throughs and a rehearsal with Cecilia on the cards before the opening performance at 9pm tonight.
9 hours and counting down. See you all there!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Videos and Sets
Ruchita's diary
Yesterday was all about nailing down set movements and choreographing our moves off-stage and I'm happy to say that it went off very well. The next test is to do all our moves in near darkness.
We also tried out video projections last night. The technical complexity of this project is quite daunting in that sound, video, set, action and wagon movements have to be precisely timed to one another. This is not easy and requires all of us to be on the ball and focussed during the entire performance. Tonight we're going to add lighting design to the scenography and try out costume changes at the same time. We're slowly adding the layers one on top of the other and the picture is getting richer and richer.
Yesterday was all about nailing down set movements and choreographing our moves off-stage and I'm happy to say that it went off very well. The next test is to do all our moves in near darkness.
We also tried out video projections last night. The technical complexity of this project is quite daunting in that sound, video, set, action and wagon movements have to be precisely timed to one another. This is not easy and requires all of us to be on the ball and focussed during the entire performance. Tonight we're going to add lighting design to the scenography and try out costume changes at the same time. We're slowly adding the layers one on top of the other and the picture is getting richer and richer.
Working on Set Moves
Pete Brooks' diary
Its reasonably early morning (6.45) and I'm writing this now because I don't expect to get a chance later today. Last night we did a run with both truck and set elements and although there are of course glitches and hiati (is that the plural of hiatus?) on the whole everything is working really well. Bruno, who is working for Inteatro took some photos for the press and was clearly impressed. The end scene in which Martin, wearing a pig mask dances in the red curtained corridor is lovely. Maria has made a beautiful Chantal Ackermanesque short film for the end and overall there is much to be admired. On the down side I have a slight hangover as a result of trying to introduce some of the company to the delights of Fernet Branca, and bizarrely we have a Libdem/Conservative coalition government. Its distressing that now we live in a classless society old Etonian leaders of the Conservative party can once again be Prime Minister without being seen to obviously represent the interests of an elete. I'd rather have Thatcher.
Its reasonably early morning (6.45) and I'm writing this now because I don't expect to get a chance later today. Last night we did a run with both truck and set elements and although there are of course glitches and hiati (is that the plural of hiatus?) on the whole everything is working really well. Bruno, who is working for Inteatro took some photos for the press and was clearly impressed. The end scene in which Martin, wearing a pig mask dances in the red curtained corridor is lovely. Maria has made a beautiful Chantal Ackermanesque short film for the end and overall there is much to be admired. On the down side I have a slight hangover as a result of trying to introduce some of the company to the delights of Fernet Branca, and bizarrely we have a Libdem/Conservative coalition government. Its distressing that now we live in a classless society old Etonian leaders of the Conservative party can once again be Prime Minister without being seen to obviously represent the interests of an elete. I'd rather have Thatcher.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Traffic Cops
Ruchita's diary
Speaking of directing traffic, I've just finished drawing up cue sheets and assigning people the panels they're supposed to move and I must say, it's a logistical nightmare! These are going to be put to the test today as we do 3 runs back-to-back of truck movements and set choreography both of which have so far been very complicated procedures thanks to the low quality wheels driving the set pieces. Where 2 people are needed to move one element, by tomorrow I hope we can make the mechanism efficient enough for just one person to take charge of each.
In the meanwhile Dee's busy with costume alterations and last minute changes to wardrobe, Maria's on rapid fire video edits and Martin's tweaking the soundtrack, adding foley sounds over the dialogue and music. There's frenetic activity on all fronts but things are coming together folks! This is going to be a very exciting show to put up!
Speaking of directing traffic, I've just finished drawing up cue sheets and assigning people the panels they're supposed to move and I must say, it's a logistical nightmare! These are going to be put to the test today as we do 3 runs back-to-back of truck movements and set choreography both of which have so far been very complicated procedures thanks to the low quality wheels driving the set pieces. Where 2 people are needed to move one element, by tomorrow I hope we can make the mechanism efficient enough for just one person to take charge of each.
In the meanwhile Dee's busy with costume alterations and last minute changes to wardrobe, Maria's on rapid fire video edits and Martin's tweaking the soundtrack, adding foley sounds over the dialogue and music. There's frenetic activity on all fronts but things are coming together folks! This is going to be a very exciting show to put up!
Set Choreography
Pete Brooks' diary
It's been a fairly busy couple of days. On Sunday we marked up all the positions for the audience truck. It is a unnegotiable fact of making performance, that, just as inany other manufacturing process, it is not enough simply to know what you want to happen, you also need to know how to make it happen, and in the case of tracking shot, cueing, and the marking up of the floor are the key to getting things to happen in the right way at the right time and take quite a bit of thought. Last night we worked through all the set moves. Who moves what and to where.
Everything has to be choreographed. Every set element has it's place at every moment, not just when it's being used and because it is the cast who are moving stuff, there are costume changes to be taken into consideration and also lighting and projection positions. There are 15
set changes in 40 minutes making for a complex interconnecting puzzle that takes hours to solve. It's frustrating and difficult without being challenging in an exciting way. It's just something that needs to be done. It reminds me of something a TV director friend of mine said, and this someone who has directed episodes of both The Wire and The Sopranos. He says the director is just a traffic cop.
A footnote: I have just noticed that the blogmeister has been describing these diary entries as being from Pete Brook's diary. Dissapointingly they are not, they are from Pete Brooks' diary.(what a difference a space makes) I saw Peter Brook's Midsummer Night's Dream when I was at school and, reservations about his recent work not withstanding I have always admired him. The truth is we do not have a great deal in common other than that we both work in the theatre and are both bald. He came to see a show of mine once (Clair de Luz in 1994) I was so nervous when I heard he was in the audience I went to the toilets and vomited.
It's been a fairly busy couple of days. On Sunday we marked up all the positions for the audience truck. It is a unnegotiable fact of making performance, that, just as inany other manufacturing process, it is not enough simply to know what you want to happen, you also need to know how to make it happen, and in the case of tracking shot, cueing, and the marking up of the floor are the key to getting things to happen in the right way at the right time and take quite a bit of thought. Last night we worked through all the set moves. Who moves what and to where.
Everything has to be choreographed. Every set element has it's place at every moment, not just when it's being used and because it is the cast who are moving stuff, there are costume changes to be taken into consideration and also lighting and projection positions. There are 15
set changes in 40 minutes making for a complex interconnecting puzzle that takes hours to solve. It's frustrating and difficult without being challenging in an exciting way. It's just something that needs to be done. It reminds me of something a TV director friend of mine said, and this someone who has directed episodes of both The Wire and The Sopranos. He says the director is just a traffic cop.
A footnote: I have just noticed that the blogmeister has been describing these diary entries as being from Pete Brook's diary. Dissapointingly they are not, they are from Pete Brooks' diary.(what a difference a space makes) I saw Peter Brook's Midsummer Night's Dream when I was at school and, reservations about his recent work not withstanding I have always admired him. The truth is we do not have a great deal in common other than that we both work in the theatre and are both bald. He came to see a show of mine once (Clair de Luz in 1994) I was so nervous when I heard he was in the audience I went to the toilets and vomited.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Marking, making and mending
Ruchita's diary
At last night's rehearsal we got done the big, important task of laying down the markings for the moving wagon and sets. This means that tonight onwards our rehearsals are going to run much more smoothly. We will be able to move the wagon around with more confidence and this is really helpful psychologically. The only thing that has been giving us trouble is moving the set pieces around. Some of the casters we've used aren't as free as they should be and this is proving to be a major hurdle in terms of getting a quick set change. Hopefully we should be able to change out the ineffective wheels by tomorrow.
In the meanwhile Steve presence on stage has been immensely stress relieving. Just knowing he's around makes us feel more secure about the show. Yaay for Steve!
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At last night's rehearsal we got done the big, important task of laying down the markings for the moving wagon and sets. This means that tonight onwards our rehearsals are going to run much more smoothly. We will be able to move the wagon around with more confidence and this is really helpful psychologically. The only thing that has been giving us trouble is moving the set pieces around. Some of the casters we've used aren't as free as they should be and this is proving to be a major hurdle in terms of getting a quick set change. Hopefully we should be able to change out the ineffective wheels by tomorrow.
In the meanwhile Steve presence on stage has been immensely stress relieving. Just knowing he's around makes us feel more secure about the show. Yaay for Steve!
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Sunday, May 9, 2010
Rehearsals ahoy!
May 9th. Pete Brooks' diary
Ive just got back from a couple of days in London dealing with College business. There's good news while I'm away, and not just that the Tories don't have an overall majority. A more immediate reason for celebration is that the event that was to take place in the Theatre of the Moon yesterday was cancelled. As a result work has continued without interruption through the weekend. Last night we rehearsed truck and set element moves up until the middle of the show. In general everything is working as expected. Steve is here and his presence is helpful both practically and psychologically. Today we will have a longer rehearsal and this will be the pattern as there is less and less building work to do.
Tomorrow we will mark up the space and prepare it for performances. At the moment it feels as if we are trying to rehearse in the scene dock. Today is sunny and we are all aware that in two weeks it will all be over, although in my own case I will be moving on to Athens to help the group there prepare for the opening at BIOS on May 27th
Ive just got back from a couple of days in London dealing with College business. There's good news while I'm away, and not just that the Tories don't have an overall majority. A more immediate reason for celebration is that the event that was to take place in the Theatre of the Moon yesterday was cancelled. As a result work has continued without interruption through the weekend. Last night we rehearsed truck and set element moves up until the middle of the show. In general everything is working as expected. Steve is here and his presence is helpful both practically and psychologically. Today we will have a longer rehearsal and this will be the pattern as there is less and less building work to do.
Tomorrow we will mark up the space and prepare it for performances. At the moment it feels as if we are trying to rehearse in the scene dock. Today is sunny and we are all aware that in two weeks it will all be over, although in my own case I will be moving on to Athens to help the group there prepare for the opening at BIOS on May 27th
Friday, May 7, 2010
When The Cat's Away...
May 07, 2010. Ruchita's diary
The sun finally came out today and brought with it a very, very early morning. Zsofie woke us up at 7:30 am with the proclamation that the sun was bright enought to shoot her video at the beach. To be honest, the thought of the beach in warm sunshine was more inviting than that of "working" on the film set, but hey! who were we to argue. Zsofie needed us and we were going to be there for her...at the beach!
Zsofie's set and video projection are inspired by late Fellini films like Satyricon. For her piece she needed us dressed up as giggly girls from ancient Rome prancing around on a beach and generally having a good time together. Not difficult at all.
She and Dee have been working really hard to get out costumes together replete with golden accessories like arm bands, bracelets and head pieces. Everything looked really beautiful as we put it all on and I'm pleased to say it was one film shoot that went very well indeed: face paint, early morning and long drive notwitstanding!
The sun finally came out today and brought with it a very, very early morning. Zsofie woke us up at 7:30 am with the proclamation that the sun was bright enought to shoot her video at the beach. To be honest, the thought of the beach in warm sunshine was more inviting than that of "working" on the film set, but hey! who were we to argue. Zsofie needed us and we were going to be there for her...at the beach!
Zsofie's set and video projection are inspired by late Fellini films like Satyricon. For her piece she needed us dressed up as giggly girls from ancient Rome prancing around on a beach and generally having a good time together. Not difficult at all.
She and Dee have been working really hard to get out costumes together replete with golden accessories like arm bands, bracelets and head pieces. Everything looked really beautiful as we put it all on and I'm pleased to say it was one film shoot that went very well indeed: face paint, early morning and long drive notwitstanding!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Morning after Rehearsals
May 06, 2010. Pete Brooks' diary
Last night we rough blocked the first 13 minutes of the show. Martin will now re-edit the sound so that it follows more closely the structure we have for the opening scenes, then we will rechoreograph to the new edit. If it goes well we will only need to do this once, maximum twice. The aim is to get to the point where the sound is what everybody works to. Everything will be cued to sound and the sound will be continuous. I think that the opening works very well, but I think that the more difficult sections lie ahead. Nevertheless a good beginning and a good ending are extremely helpful. Volcanic activity is not affecting air traffic in the UK so Steve should arrive at lunchtime. Unfortunately I have to go back to London on the same plane, returning on Saturday.
Last night some of us went to La Cicala after the rehearsals for what can only be described as a degustation di amari (that is probably bad Italian for Amaro sampling). For those of you reading (if anyone is) who do not know what amaro is, it's a thick, browny black, bitter sweet tasting spirit a bit like alcoholic cough mixture, and its pretty much a Italian obsession. I can't think of a country that has so many bitter drinks. They even have a kind of amaro soft drink, chino I think its called. Personally I really like it although maybe last night was too much of a good thing. Particularly the Hungarian stuff, the name of which I have decided to purge forever from my consciousness.
Last night we rough blocked the first 13 minutes of the show. Martin will now re-edit the sound so that it follows more closely the structure we have for the opening scenes, then we will rechoreograph to the new edit. If it goes well we will only need to do this once, maximum twice. The aim is to get to the point where the sound is what everybody works to. Everything will be cued to sound and the sound will be continuous. I think that the opening works very well, but I think that the more difficult sections lie ahead. Nevertheless a good beginning and a good ending are extremely helpful. Volcanic activity is not affecting air traffic in the UK so Steve should arrive at lunchtime. Unfortunately I have to go back to London on the same plane, returning on Saturday.
Last night some of us went to La Cicala after the rehearsals for what can only be described as a degustation di amari (that is probably bad Italian for Amaro sampling). For those of you reading (if anyone is) who do not know what amaro is, it's a thick, browny black, bitter sweet tasting spirit a bit like alcoholic cough mixture, and its pretty much a Italian obsession. I can't think of a country that has so many bitter drinks. They even have a kind of amaro soft drink, chino I think its called. Personally I really like it although maybe last night was too much of a good thing. Particularly the Hungarian stuff, the name of which I have decided to purge forever from my consciousness.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Sketch of Villa Nappi
Once upon a time, we had Saturdays off and I was actually able to get some sketching done...
The Corn Field
Ruchita's diary
So Pete has been telling us from the very beginning of this project that we MUST have a scene with a girl running through a cornfield. He's been very insistent about it and has described it to us so many times that we've each built up this picture in our heads of Zsofie running through a field in a pretty dress with wind blowing through her hair.
Today he FINALLY told us where he has this image in his head from. It's from a 1969 album cover for a band called It's A Beautiful Day and we found the image online.
So Pete has been telling us from the very beginning of this project that we MUST have a scene with a girl running through a cornfield. He's been very insistent about it and has described it to us so many times that we've each built up this picture in our heads of Zsofie running through a field in a pretty dress with wind blowing through her hair.
Today he FINALLY told us where he has this image in his head from. It's from a 1969 album cover for a band called It's A Beautiful Day and we found the image online.
Notes: Blocking and Choreographing
May 05, 2010. Ruchita's diary
After playing around with the wagon last night we've started to build up a "vocabulary" of movements that are possible with it. We've decided that the viewing frame will not just be tracked into the film scenes but that it can also pan left and right and track out of a shot as well. This is exciting because as new possibilities open up, we're finding that we can add a whole new dimension to the scenography of this piece that we just hadn't thought of before.
We've just concluded our morning direction meeting with Martin to figure out how to start choreographing the first few scenes. Here are some notes from the meeting with ideas that we're going to try out later today.
After playing around with the wagon last night we've started to build up a "vocabulary" of movements that are possible with it. We've decided that the viewing frame will not just be tracked into the film scenes but that it can also pan left and right and track out of a shot as well. This is exciting because as new possibilities open up, we're finding that we can add a whole new dimension to the scenography of this piece that we just hadn't thought of before.
We've just concluded our morning direction meeting with Martin to figure out how to start choreographing the first few scenes. Here are some notes from the meeting with ideas that we're going to try out later today.
Recording Sound
May 05, 2010. Ruchita's diary
Over the last 2 days we've been recording our dialogue and spoken word sections for the soundtrack. It's been quite a task finding a quiet recording space in which to work but what's been harder is finding the right tone of voice for our soundtrack. The dialogue has turned out quite well thanks to the work put in by Cecilia and Lorenzo. Reading Burnt Norton has not been easy but Cecilia has done a great job of it.
Last evening Martin put together all of our dialogue along with snippets of conversation from the invidual film scenes, laying out most of the sound onto a 25 minute track. Now that the soundtrack has started to come together, our next steps are becoming better defined. Choregraphing the piece and directing the action are going to be the next key steps.
Over the last 2 days we've been recording our dialogue and spoken word sections for the soundtrack. It's been quite a task finding a quiet recording space in which to work but what's been harder is finding the right tone of voice for our soundtrack. The dialogue has turned out quite well thanks to the work put in by Cecilia and Lorenzo. Reading Burnt Norton has not been easy but Cecilia has done a great job of it.
Last evening Martin put together all of our dialogue along with snippets of conversation from the invidual film scenes, laying out most of the sound onto a 25 minute track. Now that the soundtrack has started to come together, our next steps are becoming better defined. Choregraphing the piece and directing the action are going to be the next key steps.
Playing with the Sets
May 05, 2010. Pete Brooks' diary
Last night we played around with the audience truck. Loaded it's heavy, but surprisingly manouvrable. Its obvious that it offers more possibilities than simply moving forward, but the possibilities themselves become difficult to cope with given that time is running out. I think that we will simplify the sound design, which is a shame (I'll try and write about that another time). Most things are working fine, one or to ideas seem to have shifted in ways that need to be looked at carefully but on the whole I think we are OK. I haven't checked the situation regarding volcanic activity but will try and write more later.
Last night we played around with the audience truck. Loaded it's heavy, but surprisingly manouvrable. Its obvious that it offers more possibilities than simply moving forward, but the possibilities themselves become difficult to cope with given that time is running out. I think that we will simplify the sound design, which is a shame (I'll try and write about that another time). Most things are working fine, one or to ideas seem to have shifted in ways that need to be looked at carefully but on the whole I think we are OK. I haven't checked the situation regarding volcanic activity but will try and write more later.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Week 7 continues
May 04, 2010. Pete Brooks' diary
Morning Tuesday May 4th and everything is going well except that Irish airspace has been closed due to the continuing eruption in Iceland. Steve Keay our technician is supposed to be flying here on Thursday so we are all keeping our fingers crossed that the situation doesn't get any worse. Tonight we are going to try out of projections and also moving the various set elements around in the space. Twelve hour plus working days have become the norm but no one is complaining. In the theatre you can start to see what the project is or might be, there is pressure but not too much, I don't think we have any real time problems, there is even the possibility of a day free on Saturday because the theatre is being used, but also we may have to do some filming Saturday morning. If Steve can't get here that will be a big problem, but we just have to wait and see.
May 04, 2010. Ruchita's diary
Steve not coming is a possibility I refuse to think about. We're just going to get on with the work and keep our fingers crossed.
It's a rainy day in Polverigi. Work on the sets is going full steam ahead. Last evening we recorded the dialogue with our lovely Italian actress Cecilia Raponi who will play the lead and Lorenzo Marinangeli who has lent us his best director's voice for the soundtrack. Today in the second phase of sound recordings we will capture Cecilia's rendition of Burnt Norton (in Italian of course) for our parallel text. Martin is busy splicing the dialogue together. The performance is slowly but very surely taking shape.
Morning Tuesday May 4th and everything is going well except that Irish airspace has been closed due to the continuing eruption in Iceland. Steve Keay our technician is supposed to be flying here on Thursday so we are all keeping our fingers crossed that the situation doesn't get any worse. Tonight we are going to try out of projections and also moving the various set elements around in the space. Twelve hour plus working days have become the norm but no one is complaining. In the theatre you can start to see what the project is or might be, there is pressure but not too much, I don't think we have any real time problems, there is even the possibility of a day free on Saturday because the theatre is being used, but also we may have to do some filming Saturday morning. If Steve can't get here that will be a big problem, but we just have to wait and see.
May 04, 2010. Ruchita's diary
Steve not coming is a possibility I refuse to think about. We're just going to get on with the work and keep our fingers crossed.
It's a rainy day in Polverigi. Work on the sets is going full steam ahead. Last evening we recorded the dialogue with our lovely Italian actress Cecilia Raponi who will play the lead and Lorenzo Marinangeli who has lent us his best director's voice for the soundtrack. Today in the second phase of sound recordings we will capture Cecilia's rendition of Burnt Norton (in Italian of course) for our parallel text. Martin is busy splicing the dialogue together. The performance is slowly but very surely taking shape.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Rear Window by Hitchcock
We are having to chose a few well know film directors to base our work on. Its the perfect opportunity to get to work on something inspired by Hitchcock, who is one of my all time favourite film directors. After reviewing some of his movies and having a few days to narrow down some of the few ideas that came up through this process, I finally chose to focus on 'The Rear Window' as my source of inspiration.
Final day of build
May 03, 2010. Ruchita's diary
Today was the day we had scheduled as the last day of the structural build and things seemed to have gone off pretty well. We have set pieces standing, paint drying, drills whirring and hammers hammering away from morning to night. The atmosphere has started to become quite excited now that we can see everything come together.
It was Angelo and Andrea's last day on site and as a special thank you we put together a lunch for everyone.
Today was the day we had scheduled as the last day of the structural build and things seemed to have gone off pretty well. We have set pieces standing, paint drying, drills whirring and hammers hammering away from morning to night. The atmosphere has started to become quite excited now that we can see everything come together.
It was Angelo and Andrea's last day on site and as a special thank you we put together a lunch for everyone.
Remembering the Polverigi festival
by Pete Brooks
Polverigi and its festival was an important part of the landscape of the alternative theatre scene in the 1980/90s. I first came here in 1982 with Graeme Miller my colleague from Impact Theatre Cooperative to meet with Velia Papa and Roberto Cimetta from Inteatro with a view to setting up a co production (what was to be Impact's show A Place in Europe) and while here saw amongst other things one of the very earliest (maybe the first) show by Societas Raffaello Sanzio. Over the years I came back 4 times to the festival with different shows. While here I saw work by all kinds of people who played in the various spaces around the village. Spalding Gray, Jan Fabre, Squat theatre, Theodora Skipitares, Mike Figgis, almost everybody who made significant work on anything except the largest scale seemed to end up some how performing here. It was also a great place to network with venue directors, I usually met up here with John Ashford, then director of the ICA and later the Place theatre, but mainly I remember the Dutch and Belgium contingent, people like Ritsaart ten Cate, Rudy Engelander and Bob Danzig.
I also remember rather boorishly flirting with a young Cambridge undergraduate student, here with her, I thought, rather boring boyfriend. I had no idea of her name or what happened to her until years later I bumped into her at the RSC. It was Katie Mitchell. The festival has changed a lot over the years. There is no longer the money available to run something on its former scale, but as an organisation Inteatro is still active and actively looking for a significant role to play in contemporary performance.This is the second year that the MAPDP course from Central Saint Martin's has been in residence here (last year it was under the direction of Geraldine Pilgrim) its a great place to come and make work, and hopefully we'll be back.
Inteatro still have an original poster up from this performance
Polverigi and its festival was an important part of the landscape of the alternative theatre scene in the 1980/90s. I first came here in 1982 with Graeme Miller my colleague from Impact Theatre Cooperative to meet with Velia Papa and Roberto Cimetta from Inteatro with a view to setting up a co production (what was to be Impact's show A Place in Europe) and while here saw amongst other things one of the very earliest (maybe the first) show by Societas Raffaello Sanzio. Over the years I came back 4 times to the festival with different shows. While here I saw work by all kinds of people who played in the various spaces around the village. Spalding Gray, Jan Fabre, Squat theatre, Theodora Skipitares, Mike Figgis, almost everybody who made significant work on anything except the largest scale seemed to end up some how performing here. It was also a great place to network with venue directors, I usually met up here with John Ashford, then director of the ICA and later the Place theatre, but mainly I remember the Dutch and Belgium contingent, people like Ritsaart ten Cate, Rudy Engelander and Bob Danzig.
I also remember rather boorishly flirting with a young Cambridge undergraduate student, here with her, I thought, rather boring boyfriend. I had no idea of her name or what happened to her until years later I bumped into her at the RSC. It was Katie Mitchell. The festival has changed a lot over the years. There is no longer the money available to run something on its former scale, but as an organisation Inteatro is still active and actively looking for a significant role to play in contemporary performance.This is the second year that the MAPDP course from Central Saint Martin's has been in residence here (last year it was under the direction of Geraldine Pilgrim) its a great place to come and make work, and hopefully we'll be back.
Inteatro still have an original poster up from this performance
Notes from Week 6
May 01, 2010. Pete Brooks' diary
Things in the theatre have really moved on. Many of the set element are now mobile and surface texture is beginning to be applied to things that were previously just mdf.
May 02, 2010. Pete Brooks' diary
In the theatre we position a few set elements and play with ideas for the opening of the show. In particular we experiment with the way that the audience truck moves forward in relation to set elements across the stage space. Although everything is still unfinished we can see that the basic scenographic proposal works brilliantly. The experience of moving forward as if as the camera is pleasurable in a makes you smile kind of way.
Notes from Week 5
April 19, 2010. Pete Brooks' diary
Jacobo, the production manager from Inteatro turned up today with a builder called Angelo, who will begin work straight away, everyone is very tense because next week we had scheduled a long weekend off. We had expected the set to be ready to begin stage rehearsals but Michael's non arrival means that we are delayed by about five days. Actually Angelo can only work 2 days each week so effectively we are likely to fall two weeks behind schedule. We have asked Jacobo whether he can find another builder to help Angelo. The situation is bad but not terrible, we have 24/7 access to the theatre space which means that we can make up time later but its a real drag because its so unexpected.
Jacobo, the production manager from Inteatro turned up today with a builder called Angelo, who will begin work straight away, everyone is very tense because next week we had scheduled a long weekend off. We had expected the set to be ready to begin stage rehearsals but Michael's non arrival means that we are delayed by about five days. Actually Angelo can only work 2 days each week so effectively we are likely to fall two weeks behind schedule. We have asked Jacobo whether he can find another builder to help Angelo. The situation is bad but not terrible, we have 24/7 access to the theatre space which means that we can make up time later but its a real drag because its so unexpected.
Notes from Week 4
April 15, 2010. Pete Brooks' diary
Last night a volcanic eruption in Iceland has caused serious disruption to air traffic. As a result of this Michael Breakey who was due to travel to Ancona this morning to start building the set is instead ringing me from Heathrow trying to rebook his flight. He has only a limited time here so this is a bit of a disaster. Various people are trapped here. Andrew Quick, my colleague with Imitating the Dog who was intending to be here for 3 days only is unlikely to be able to fly home on Saturday.
April 16, 2010. Pete Brooks' diary
The flight situation is getting worse and it is clear that our set builder Michael Breakey is not going to to be able to get here. It is an interesting situation. The problem is serious and there seems no particular reason why it should go away.
April 17 2010. Pete Brooks' diary
We need to find set builders in Polverigi. This is now the dominant issue that concerns us all.
* * *
April 12, 2010. Ruchita's diary
In the meanwhile the team has split into 2 main groups: Dramaturgy and Design.
The dramaturgy group writes up the narrative for the performance while the design team devises our dynamic sets. Both teams work independently for the time being, while Martin is composing our musical score and Dee has begun research on costumes for individual scenes. Every night we get together in the villa's beautiful dance studio to watch films by the directors whose work we've decided to represent in our scenes: Fellini, Bergman, Godard...it's amazing the films we find on youtube!
Characters: Monica
by Pete Brooks
Monica is the name we have arrived at for the central character. Monica probably refers to Monica Vitti. Monica is an amalgamation of every great European art film actress of the second half of the 20 th century. She is Anna Karenina, Dominique Sanda, Hannah Schigula, Anita Ekberg, Jeanne Moreau, Julie Christie and Jean Seberg. She is different from the average American actress because she reads cahier du cinema, happily does nude scenes even if the script doesn't require it and doesn't shave her underarms.
Monica is the name we have arrived at for the central character. Monica probably refers to Monica Vitti. Monica is an amalgamation of every great European art film actress of the second half of the 20 th century. She is Anna Karenina, Dominique Sanda, Hannah Schigula, Anita Ekberg, Jeanne Moreau, Julie Christie and Jean Seberg. She is different from the average American actress because she reads cahier du cinema, happily does nude scenes even if the script doesn't require it and doesn't shave her underarms.
Tracking Shot Scenography
by Pete Brooks
The idea is to put the limited audience (probably 8) in a moving truck that replicates the movement of the camera on a tracking shot as it follows the central character, an actress, on a journey back through the films she has made. The truck will move slowly across the 25 metre wide space pushing through a series of layers each one of which will be a scene from a film in which she performed. I am aware that my friend and colleague Dr Andrew Quick has lectured on the dramaturgy of the tracking shot. Unfortunately I don't know what he said.
The idea is to put the limited audience (probably 8) in a moving truck that replicates the movement of the camera on a tracking shot as it follows the central character, an actress, on a journey back through the films she has made. The truck will move slowly across the 25 metre wide space pushing through a series of layers each one of which will be a scene from a film in which she performed. I am aware that my friend and colleague Dr Andrew Quick has lectured on the dramaturgy of the tracking shot. Unfortunately I don't know what he said.
Notes from Week 3: On using Burnt Norton as a parallel text
by Pete Brooks
T S Eliot has always been one of my favourite poets. My son is middle named after Ezra Pound who as well as being a madman/fascist/genius edited Eliots great poem 'they do the police in different voices' changing the title in the process to the more succinct and to the point 'The Wasteland'. We talked a lot about the compositional strategies of The Wasteland, comparing it in particular to the way that Matthew Barney structures The Cremaster Cycle. Barney may seem a genuine original in film or fine art circles, but most second year Eng Lit students would recognise in Barneys genitally deformed protagonists a version of the Fisher King journeying across a landscape of intertextualating mythologies and cultural references. Anyway in the end we ended up cutting into the central text sections of Burnt Norton. Whether it makes the final version of the show is not sure but it provides an interesting counterpoint.
BURNT NORTON
From The Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot
T S Eliot has always been one of my favourite poets. My son is middle named after Ezra Pound who as well as being a madman/fascist/genius edited Eliots great poem 'they do the police in different voices' changing the title in the process to the more succinct and to the point 'The Wasteland'. We talked a lot about the compositional strategies of The Wasteland, comparing it in particular to the way that Matthew Barney structures The Cremaster Cycle. Barney may seem a genuine original in film or fine art circles, but most second year Eng Lit students would recognise in Barneys genitally deformed protagonists a version of the Fisher King journeying across a landscape of intertextualating mythologies and cultural references. Anyway in the end we ended up cutting into the central text sections of Burnt Norton. Whether it makes the final version of the show is not sure but it provides an interesting counterpoint.
BURNT NORTON
From The Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot
I
Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable.
What might have been is an abstraction
Remaining a perpetual possibility
Only in a world of speculation.
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose-garden. My words echo
Thus, in your mind.
But to what purpose
Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves
I do not know.
Other echoes
Inhabit the garden. Shall we follow?
Quick, said the bird, find them, find them,
Round the corner. Through the first gate,
Into our first world, shall we follow
The deception of the thrush? Into our first world.
There they were, dignified, invisible,
Moving without pressure, over the dead leaves,
In the autumn heat, through the vibrant air,
And the bird called, in response to
The unheard music hidden in the shrubbery,
And the unseen eyebeam crossed, for the roses
Had the look of flowers that are looked at.
There they were as our guests, accepted and accepting.
So we moved, and they, in a formal pattern,
Along the empty alley, into the box circle,
To look down into the drained pool.
Dry the pool, dry concrete, brown edged,
And the pool was filled with water out of sunlight,
And the lotos rose, quietly, quietly,
The surface glittered out of heart of light,
And they were behind us, reflected in the pool.
Then a cloud passed, and the pool was empty.
Go, said the bird, for the leaves were full of children,
Hidden excitedly, containing laughter.
Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind
Cannot bear very much reality.
Time past and time future
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
II
Garlic and sapphires in the mud
Clot the bedded axle-tree.
The trilling wire in the blood
Sings below inveterate scars
Appeasing long forgotten wars.
The dance along the artery
The circulation of the lymph
Are figured in the drift of stars
Ascend to summer in the tree
We move above the moving tree
In light upon the figured leaf
And hear upon the sodden floor
Below, the boarhound and the boar
Pursue their pattern as before
But reconciled among the stars.
At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.
I can only say, there we have been: but I cannot say where.
And I cannot say, how long, for that is to place it in time.
The inner freedom from the practical desire,
The release from action and suffering, release from the inner
And the outer compulsion, yet surrounded
By a grace of sense, a white light still and moving,
Erhebung without motion, concentration
Without elimination, both a new world
And the old made explicit, understood
In the completion of its partial ecstasy,
The resolution of its partial horror.
Yet the enchainment of past and future
Woven in the weakness of the changing body,
Protects mankind from heaven and damnation
Which flesh cannot endure.
Time past and time future
Allow but a little consciousness.
To be conscious is not to be in time
But only in time can the moment in the rose-garden,
The moment in the arbour where the rain beat,
The moment in the draughty church at smokefall
Be remembered; involved with past and future.
Only through time time is conquered.
III
Here is a place of disaffection
Time before and time after
In a dim light: neither daylight
Investing form with lucid stillness
Turning shadow into transient beauty
With slow rotation suggesting permanence
Nor darkness to purify the soul
Emptying the sensual with deprivation
Cleansing affection from the temporal.
Neither plenitude nor vacancy. Only a flicker
Over the strained time-ridden faces
Distracted from distraction by distraction
Filled with fancies and empty of meaning
Tumid apathy with no concentration
Men and bits of paper, whirled by the cold wind
That blows before and after time,
Wind in and out of unwholesome lungs
Time before and time after.
Eructation of unhealthy souls
Into the faded air, the torpid
Driven on the wind that sweeps the gloomy hills of London,
Hampstead and Clerkenwell, Campden and Putney,
Highgate, Primrose and Ludgate. Not here
Not here the darkness, in this twittering world.
Descend lower, descend only
Into the world of perpetual solitude,
World not world, but that which is not world,
Internal darkness, deprivation
And destitution of all property,
Desiccation of the world of sense,
Evacuation of the world of fancy,
Inoperancy of the world of spirit;
This is the one way, and the other
Is the same, not in movement
But abstention from movement; while the world moves
In appetency, on its metalled ways
Of time past and time future.
IV
Time and the bell have buried the day,
The black cloud carries the sun away.
Will the sunflower turn to us, will the clematis
Stray down, bend to us; tendril and spray
Clutch and cling?
Chill
Fingers of yew be curled
Down on us? After the kingfisher's wing
Has answered light to light, and is silent, the light is still
At the still point of the turning world.
V
Words move, music moves
Only in time; but that which is only living
Can only die. Words, after speech, reach
Into the silence. Only by the form, the pattern,
Can words or music reach
The stillness, as a Chinese jar still
Moves perpetually in its stillness.
Not the stillness of the violin, while the note lasts,
Not that only, but the co-existence,
Or say that the end precedes the beginning,
And the end and the beginning were always there
Before the beginning and after the end.
And all is always now. Words strain,
Crack and sometimes break, under the burden,
Under the tension, slip, slide, perish,
Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place,
Will not stay still. Shrieking voices
Scolding, mocking, or merely chattering,
Always assail them. The Word in the desert
Is most attacked by voices of temptation,
The crying shadow in the funeral dance,
The loud lament of the disconsolate chimera.
The detail of the pattern is movement,
As in the figure of the ten stairs.
Desire itself is movement
Not in itself desirable;
Love is itself unmoving,
Only the cause and end of movement,
Timeless, and undesiring
Except in the aspect of time
Caught in the form of limitation
Between un-being and being.
Sudden in a shaft of sunlight
Even while the dust moves
There rises the hidden laughter
Of children in the foliage
Quick now, here, now, always—
Ridiculous the waste sad time
Stretching before and after.
Some Thoughts About Tracking Shot 1
by Pete Brooks
We are all the children of Baudrillard , most of us admittedly by way of the Matrix, and so this piece began as a meditation on the relationship between real experience and fiction, between memory and the moment, on what is the status of the past. What does the past mean? where does it go? that kind of thing. Making a piece like this you are trying to find simple metaphors to express complex thoughts and so we began with the idea of an actress taking us on a journey through her life, a life which is a mixture of memories of events both real and fictional that late in her life and dying of cancer she has trouble distinguishing between. Or maybe she no longer feel the distinction is important. In memory everything achieves a kind of equality. A memory of a dream or film is no less real than a memory of a real event. Anyway this actress needs a reason to take us on the journey, she needs to show us something or do something. She's dying so this suggests its something she needs to do before she dies something she needs to put right.
So we came up with the idea that she wants to change the ending of a film she made thirty years before so that it becomes a declaration of love for a man she loved but who died before she ever told him. We like this idea because it is so patently pointless and yet at the same time so poignant. It reminds me of an episode of Holby city in which a distraught father, whose wife and daughter have both been killed in a car crash asks that they be put together in the same mortuary drawer, because the child was afraid of the dark. The doctors say they can't its against the rules and anyway it makes no difference. But we know it does. Pointless gestures are not without meaning.
We are all the children of Baudrillard , most of us admittedly by way of the Matrix, and so this piece began as a meditation on the relationship between real experience and fiction, between memory and the moment, on what is the status of the past. What does the past mean? where does it go? that kind of thing. Making a piece like this you are trying to find simple metaphors to express complex thoughts and so we began with the idea of an actress taking us on a journey through her life, a life which is a mixture of memories of events both real and fictional that late in her life and dying of cancer she has trouble distinguishing between. Or maybe she no longer feel the distinction is important. In memory everything achieves a kind of equality. A memory of a dream or film is no less real than a memory of a real event. Anyway this actress needs a reason to take us on the journey, she needs to show us something or do something. She's dying so this suggests its something she needs to do before she dies something she needs to put right.
So we came up with the idea that she wants to change the ending of a film she made thirty years before so that it becomes a declaration of love for a man she loved but who died before she ever told him. We like this idea because it is so patently pointless and yet at the same time so poignant. It reminds me of an episode of Holby city in which a distraught father, whose wife and daughter have both been killed in a car crash asks that they be put together in the same mortuary drawer, because the child was afraid of the dark. The doctors say they can't its against the rules and anyway it makes no difference. But we know it does. Pointless gestures are not without meaning.
Notes from Week 2
March 30, 2010. Pete Brooks' diary
Discussions today continued to stay on track, very much focussed on the idea of the conversation between a director and an actress. Dimitris started talking about the audience being on a kind of wagonette, which I suppose conjured up the idea of a train, which run on rails, somehow this lead onto to the idea of a camera on a dolly making a tracking shot. We all felt that this was a very strong conceptual idea. A show that was called Tracking shot, and in which the audience moved slowly on a travelling platform or truck along the trajectory of a tracking shot.
April 2, 2010. Pete Brooks' diary
While the cinema was undoubtedly a major factor in determining the direction the project is going, now we have set upon the idea of the audience being placed in a moving auditorium, the architecture of the space has become a major problem. Both the auditorium and the stage are raked. The rake is not steep but as we estimate the loaded auditorium truck will weigh around 1000k any rake is going to be a severe problem. We have decided to look at the possibility of using the Teatro della Luna, which while not as resonant architecturally with the content of the intended piece is physically pretty much ideal, being a large empty circular space about 25 metres in diameter. We performed Carrier Frequency here in 1985. Forced Entertainment were here a few years later with 200% and Bloody Thirsty, itself a kind of urban deconstruction of Carrier Frequency (While Force Ents are undoubtedly post modern to the core, Impact and its members would have styled themselves as late modernists.) an extraordinary number of seminal works have been shown here over the years, so not the worst context in which to make a new show.
* * *
Discussions today continued to stay on track, very much focussed on the idea of the conversation between a director and an actress. Dimitris started talking about the audience being on a kind of wagonette, which I suppose conjured up the idea of a train, which run on rails, somehow this lead onto to the idea of a camera on a dolly making a tracking shot. We all felt that this was a very strong conceptual idea. A show that was called Tracking shot, and in which the audience moved slowly on a travelling platform or truck along the trajectory of a tracking shot.
April 2, 2010. Pete Brooks' diary
While the cinema was undoubtedly a major factor in determining the direction the project is going, now we have set upon the idea of the audience being placed in a moving auditorium, the architecture of the space has become a major problem. Both the auditorium and the stage are raked. The rake is not steep but as we estimate the loaded auditorium truck will weigh around 1000k any rake is going to be a severe problem. We have decided to look at the possibility of using the Teatro della Luna, which while not as resonant architecturally with the content of the intended piece is physically pretty much ideal, being a large empty circular space about 25 metres in diameter. We performed Carrier Frequency here in 1985. Forced Entertainment were here a few years later with 200% and Bloody Thirsty, itself a kind of urban deconstruction of Carrier Frequency (While Force Ents are undoubtedly post modern to the core, Impact and its members would have styled themselves as late modernists.) an extraordinary number of seminal works have been shown here over the years, so not the worst context in which to make a new show.
* * *
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