A Surprise

Convenor: Tassos Stevens

Participants:

I didn't take names, but here are some photos of us during Parts 2 and 3.

What happened?

I called the session A Surprise and then deliberately placed it as late as possible in the weekend. I wanted to make an event of it and to talk about anticipation and expectations that we all have around events, especially if they are billed as A Surprise.

I took notes of what people said to me in between times to see what was going on in the collective brain of the room as to what the session might be: many people wondered if I would be surprised as well by what happened, and said it wouldn't be a surprise if I knew; someone wondered if I'd be hiding in a cake to leap out; someone wanted me to do a dance; many people just said 'exciting, don't tell me anything'.

I then managed to get surprised rather spectacularly. The session was due to start at 3pm but I managed (in the heat of a lemon joust) to lose all track of time and only noticed at 3.08pm. I saw there were various groups gathered already and was kicking myself that everyone had probably turned up excited and then left. It was only when I saw Trumpton inside the very large circle of people that I realised they were waiting for me. I was surprised, and sheepish, but maybe this was the only way it could have started.

I announced to the group that I had three parts in mind, but was open to how the group went so that I could stay surprised myself. Actually, I only had half an idea for parts 2 and 3 but was fairly confident that the right ideas would turn up in time.

In part 1, we talked about surprises in theatre, what works, what doesn't, what might be at play. I took big headline notes and took pictures of them following. In some ways though, the thing I am left with now is the insight that a surprise is a good surprise if it leaves everyone involved (especially the audience) happy to tell a good story about it. It's about a surprise present rather than a shock, where we are all invested in a delightful outcome.

About 40 minutes in, I sensed that we might start flagging so I offered part 2 or to continue with part 1. Everyone wanted part 2. So I asked everyone if they liked to follow me out of York Hall. This was the only part I'd planned. I was surprised by how our departure itself became an event to everyone else in the room, and some people got up and joined the train.

I stopped outside the Hall to remind people that we might go some way and so it would be more difficult to use their two feet to go to another group if they got bored. I meant to stop at least one more time to give the same reminder but forgot. We walked left down Old Ford Road and turned towards The Approach. As we turned the corner, a man was quite brazenly pissing against a lamppost. A little further down, a cat posed on a purple wheelie-bin. I think it would have been popular if we'd gone to the pub but I had Victoria Park in mind, until a friend wished we weren't going to the park. A church hall suddenly presented itself at that moment so we walked into the yard and stopped.

Here was Part 3. We talked about what we wanted to do now to make it A Surprise, and what we'd tell people when we returned. We agreed to tell as much of the truth as possible and to let people imagine what else we might have done, rather than trying to manipulate too much. It was a very lovely discussion.

We did do something else too, but we agreed that we wouldn't tell you that.

On the way back, I was at the back of the line. When I saw the middle of our group pass a phone box - which I'd recce'd on the hoof to get the number and noting that the glass was broken so you could hear it ring - then I made it ring. It was answered in a flash.

This was a delightful session, and my sincere thanks to everyone who took part.

What should the creative response to climate change be (if anything)? Continuing the discussion from the Tipping Point conference in Newcastle

Convener: Simon Day

Participants: Tom Ross-Williams, Dan Barnard, Velentine Teferie (?), Rachel Briscoe, Fran Hyde, Sarah Pinshon (?), Ed Jaspers, Hannah Myers, Lucy Neal, Matt Ball, Tom Brocklehurst, Jacqueline Coombe (?) plus others.

Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:

Summary

A few of us who'd been in Newcastle and had an inspiring, frightening and confusing time in equal measure, passed on some thoughts:

l  Go next year. It felt like an important event attended by some fascinating people.

l  Scientists are more into us than we might think. Felt a genuine enthusiasm for the potential of what we can do in collaboration with them and the meeting places between disciplines.

l  ACE are responding to the issue, with sustainability agenda affecting NPO's soon, and expected to affect GFTA's within a few years.

l  If some of the climate scientists are right (the ones who think we're in trouble) we really ARE in trouble, and something's got to change about the way we are living. 

MAIN DISCUSSIONS

“Tell it slant...”

Generally agreed that no one wants shit plays telling us to fly less, or to turn the lights off. A Dickinson line quoted at Tipping Point by Jay Griffiths says it well: “Tell the truth, but tell it slant”. Consciousness raising of climate change as a backdrop, if not the centre, of a dramatic fiction was put forward as well - specific example of a forthcoming Pamela Carter play was given, where a family melodrama is played out against a literally rising water-level onstage.

Visions of future and creatve process

Efficacy of culture in affecting behavioral change led to suggestion that to imagine a future, to imagine change is a prerequisite to realising it. Preeminence of dystopian visions of future in popular culture recognised, and it was wondered what role we might have as makers in working against this.

Form as vehicle (or barrier) of engagement

John Fox's (Welfare State / Dead Good Guys) moving and erudite speech at Tipping Point was paraphrased, initiating discussion about whether form of theatre itself should be questioned. Is creating and sharing participatory work, by it's process, better able to engage people effectively with the issue and bring about change? SW based Kilter were mentioned as exemplars of this approach. A counter point to any fundamentalist answer to this was well put: surely there's a place as well for a well crafted intelligent 'traditional' play that can make you reflect on an issue – the role of any/all cultural forms shouldn't necessarily be discounted through simplistic division of passive vs. active audience role.

READING LIST

Robert H Frank – Darwin Economy

Rupert Sheldrake – The Science Delusion

Hopkins – Transition Companion

ACTION

Re. ACE's sustainability agenda, a response was discussed to likely affect for 'smaller fish' through GFA programme in future. Amongst some, a willingness is there to own or to initiate a dialogue before restrictions, requirements, criteria etc. are imposed, and ACE representatives in Newcastle indeed did seem to invite this. Desire seemed to be there as well to resist entirely instrumental action, to perhaps keep responding with the heart as well as the head to this issue.

So....

Between Rachel Briscoe and Simon Day, a follow up meeting will be arranged to be held within one month. We'll publicise this through all channels we can, and in the meantime, please email us via Improbable if you want to be involved. Simon will also annouce this through Tipping Point somehow. Focus will be on two things: to sort out our approach to ACE on this, and also to continue more general dialogue about how our creative practice itself can be seen as a rehearsal for a positive futur

The politics of theatre/the theatre of politics: Making the change we want to see.

Convener: Aliki Chapple

Participants: Nir, Camila

Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:

Nir spoke about a project his company is working on which is controversial and very political and how he is frightened of masking himself vulnerable in this way and the reactions it will provoke. We talked about needing to honour strands of  our personal and social experience and identity that are in tension, or even direct contradiction with each other.

We said that all theatre is political, because it is social, and human –even though there is a more activist strand of theatre that is self-consciously political. Camila talked about holistic making practices and the relationship between form and process. We also talked about the echo chamber of left-wing arts circles, and how we all to often preach to the converted and wear our convictions as a badge instead of examining and challenging them.

“We’re playing Hamlet to the Hamlets in the audience, we need to play it to the Claudiuses”

We agreed on a need to open discussions, and to keep work open to audiences instead of walling ourselves off.

We bogged down because Camila gave examples of work she thought was politically holistic with the process reflected in the result, and Nir and I felt very strongly that the examples she gave didn’t illustrate that

But we agreed that the accessibility /inaccessibility of form and the nature of the making process were as important as content to the political identity of work.

Actions:

We all make work we consider political; we’re going to do our utmost to see each other’s and feed back/ reflect.

Email addresses and company URLs were exchanged.

I’m sick of bleak theatre. Let’s have theatre of hope

Convener: Tom Wright

Participants: Mhairi Grewlis (I’m sure I got that wrong – sorry!) Nicola Stanhope, Rose Biggin, Eve Leigh, Sian Rees, David Cottis, Tom Brocklehurst and a hive worth of bumblebees.

Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:

So, on Sat night I saw a 110min straight through show. The performances were amazingly committed and the writing was lush and dense, but five minutes in I knew that it would bleak; nothing good would happen to these characters and there was no chink of hope. All that skill and effort was aiming to make me depressed. I need no help to get depressed; I can do that sitting in a dark room on my own for a bit. If I really need help I can turn on the news for five minutes. What I need help with is generating hope, feeling up-lifted and inspired. Yet this show had dozens of five star reviews and was sold out.

Throwing it open the floor, I was persuaded to reveal the show; Pitchfork Disney. I was roundly told that the script was brilliant and hilarious. My bad! We drilled further in:

Mel Brooks: ‘Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die.’

Me: Comedy is when horrible things happen and you laugh, but at the end everything is resolved. I like this. (Can, like musical, be like a happy meal – sugary/fatty fun on the way in but lets you crash.)

Tragedy is when horrible things, but they are not inevitable, you sit going ‘no, don’t do that!’ then you end up crying, and come out purged. I like this too.

For both to be satisfying they have to have light and dark. Also happy with comedy-tragic and tragic-comedy (funny and ends badly, or sad but ends happy.)

But there’s a new thing were everything starts bleak, no hope, then there’s a grim middle section before a despairing ending. Ugh. Seems to be very popular with reviewers and audiences – feels very serious and we like to talk about serious.

(Digression on academia – is it okay to talk about emotional response in academia? Some different views on this.)

Site recommendation: Taste (haven’t found URL yet?) which sorts reviews by feeling it engenders not genre or stars. Sounds great!

General feeling; I’m picking my tickets really poorly! Everyone else seems to be seeing inspiring stuff from time to time.

Other ways at looking at the issue:

Cynicism vs. what? Idealism? Romanticism?

Or in fact, since drama reflects life which is hard, but not unending horror, all drama should have light and shade. Unremittingly bleak is therefore just bad, as would be unremittingly chirpy. Question of quality not emotional choice.

Is it to do with process – might writers, on there own, get more bleak than devisers bouncing off each other?

Ayckbourn, Chekhov, Beckett – funny but bleak as about people stuck, unable to change. Do we laugh at them, feeling smug, because we believe that we can change?

Inspiring shows – Big Society, Operation Wingfield, Daniel Kitson.

Maybe one play doesn’t transform you, but like reading a particular newspaper, the constant drip drip of a certain sort of story can have a profound impact.

Key question for an artist: What do you want to achieve?

Lower Class Social Bleakness as Social Tourism – Middle classes get to be relieved that their life is not that bad.

It’s nice to have characters you can care about.

If this world is meaningless maybe we should celebrate those who are making meaning! Very liking this. Might make it into a t-shirt.

Closed with a promise that if TomWrightDirector.com comes up with something which is just bleak you can punch him in the face.

Regretting that a bit now, as lots of people seemed quite keen to hold me to it. Oh well. Promise is a promise. . .

Actions: If anyone knows the address of the emotion review site, let me know. Also I want to know you’re stories about theatre uplifting/inspiring you in a lasting way.