Solo {Post 1.0}

Task: Create and perform a 20 minute solo
Space: SEEyD Space, Toi Whakaari; NZ Drama School
Time: 3-13 October 2012 (Performance season)
Guides: Sophie Roberts (Director), Leon Wadham, Anya Tate-Manning, Classmates

I began my exploration by looking at the space.
It is dark, it is cold, it is small, it is concrete and plywood. There is a garage roller door which opens out to a large studio space. It has a wooden door with a glass window that open to the same space. It has a wooden door that opens to a hallway. It is industrial. The floor is concrete and uneven, painted black.  The ceiling is high. The sounds of footsteps and movement above comes through loudly.
This space is not very forgiving. The concrete and plywood of the room absorbs and flattens sound so I will have to work sound and vocals very precisely for clarity. The concrete, uneven floor provides no bounce or lift for movement. There is a visual sweet-spot, when leaning on the left wall. The back corners are visually "dead". There isn't a lot of space here and the audience will be close and intimate, which makes playing "big" or "epic" challenging.

My immediate question is will I work with the qualities the space is offering me or will I attempt to transform it? If so, how could I warm this space? How could I make is seem bigger? Lighter?

What do I want to make?

For my next step, I dreamed on what I actually wanted to make. I made lists of things I know that I can do strongly, things that tutors would like to see me try, things that I want to learn and become stronger at and also things that I've simply always wanted to do on stage.

• visual narrative
• poetry
• clown
• physical score
• inter-cultural elements
• collage
• butoh
• New Zealand landscape
• elements
• language not as the primary focus
• colour as narrative
• sound-scape
• direct address
• mythology
• dream state
• slapstick
• grotesque
• subversion and juxtaposition
• physical suspensions of space
• audience flirtation and charm
• lure
• physical transformation

I also made a list of artists and companies would I would like to use as a model for my work:

• The Conch
• Stan's Cafe
• Zen Zen Zo
• Red Mole
• Odin Teatret
• Jenny Kemp
• Indian Ink
• Theatre Kore
• Minge
• Madeline McNamara
• Keiin Yoshimura
• Theater Potlach
• Song of the Goat
• Slava's Snow Show

Somewhere in these lists is my solo show. Next step: Offers; Creating and Testing.