NOTHING
Faux Theatre/Scotland
Fight/lose, breathe/suffocate, try/fail. A purposefully low-tech physical exploration of the force and grip of intense depression, that place where nothing matters.
What was the inspiration for this performance?
I am
often intrigued to make work starting from the materials up. In my last piece Torn – that was paper.
In this instance, for NOTHING I wanted to use polythene sheeting. I am
interested in materials which are malleable. There is a huge range of potential
interactions possible between a performer and large thin polythene sheeting.
Polythene can be quite ethereal when caught in the air, and as large as a wall
or tough, small and bunched.
How do you feel your work fits within the remit of the
manipulate festival?
Given that
Manipulate supports innovative and experimental visual theatre work, I feel
that my work fits within that remit and I’m fortunate to live in a city with one
of the worlds few strictly visual theatre festivals.
Is performance still a good space for the public
discussion of ideas?
That
depends I think. Performance is certainly an important art form for raising
issues, whether it’s a good space for public discussion depends on journalism,
reviews, open discussion with the artists and platforms being made available
where dialogue can be opened.
This
piece explores themes of overwhelm and
being submerged by negative feeling states. I hope it will open discussion around depression and the debilitating effects of low mood. That this is something which could happen to anybody, that it can be part of the human experience and how powerful it is to be taken down by one’s own negative emotions and thoughts. I hope it will give a sense of the surprising grip of depression.
being submerged by negative feeling states. I hope it will open discussion around depression and the debilitating effects of low mood. That this is something which could happen to anybody, that it can be part of the human experience and how powerful it is to be taken down by one’s own negative emotions and thoughts. I hope it will give a sense of the surprising grip of depression.
That those who know will feel a resonance, that
those who don’t know will understand more clearly. It is called ’Nothing’ re
the point where it feels like ‘Nothing matters’.
How did you become interested in making performance?
I have
made theatre shows since the earliest I can remember. Like many kids,
performing for their family. The difference is, I suppose, I never stopped.
Is there any particular approach to the making of the
show?
Yes,
it is devised in the truest sense of that word. I started in with the chosen
material, polythene sheeting, in this instance and used a technique called
‘Listening to The Materials’ created by Rene Baker in which you ‘play’ very
thoroughly and sensitively with the material, through improvisation. There was
no remit, no brief and no narrative at that point. The emotions, situations and
certain snapshot images become clear as you work.
From those a story gradually
evolves.
As a
practising psychotherapist I am always interested in themes exploring the personal
and intimate experience of the human condition.
Does the show fit with your usual productions?
Yes, I
am drawn to text free strongly visual narratives. Working with the materials
and individual snapshot images first, rather than starting with any particular ideas
or a story or character/s.
What do you hope that the audience will experience?
I hope
they will feel an association with the performer in dealing with the everyday
monotony of life. That they will relate to the overwhelm she experiences,
that they will be moved, that they will be interested in what unfolds on stage.
Literally, the polythene unfolds as the story and characterisation does.
However this is just a short show-of-work-in-progress. God Willing, (God being
Creative Scotland), I will be lucky enough to be awarded funding to develop
this to a full-length production.
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