Nowadays I hardly get time to blog, as things have all gone crazy, rehearsing at least twice a week, creating masks, backdrops, making phone calls, organising, forgetting things, remembering and then forgetting them again. It's impossible to know where to start really. I am only writing this blog to let people know that things are happening, at such a rate that I don't have time to write. Which is a shame because this is where the main learning is happening.
Masks
The masks are coming on great. All of the masks in these pictures are complete now or nearly complete, and add colour and mystery to the performance. Lots of people have been involved in making the masks, and at time I've felt that I may as well open up a factory at home as I've had rows of the paper mache faces lined up for me and my ever helpful daughters to paint, cut and stick elastic to. I'm glad we've taken our time over the masks.
It is easy to do something in a rush, especially when resources are low, however I am a bit of a perfectionist and wanted these masks to look as professional as possible. This also entailed getting some new brushes as I realised the ones we had, which were cheap, where unusable, making horrible wobbly scratchy lines of the paint. Why would anyone sell such terrible brushes? The term 'paint brush' should indicate that you can use something for painting, but not these. Anyway, enough moaning, the new brushes are much better. Plus I have got some fine sand paper for sanding the bits and lines off the masks, which are left by the paper mache process. This also makes for a much better, smoother finish. Last thing, our plan is to give them a coat of satin varnish to finish them off.
Backdrops
Sam has prepared the last backdrop - the one for the Badger kettle, which is going to be bright and lively. We are hopeing that as many people as possible can come along and contribute towards the finished product, which will be the final piece in the show. The backdrops that we have done are looking really great and will be great additions to the show. But there is a lot more work to be done.
Drama
The dramas are coming on well to different degrees. We have had a lot of people come and join and leave for different reasons; we've had people come and join but not fully understand the way we work; (luckily others have come and are just able to join in and get on with it). We've had to almost completely recast the Badger Kettle, with its important and difficult chase scene. We are now at the point where we have reduced the number of novices from three to two - myself and my daughter Sophie. This has simplified things somewhat, and we have found that it is much easier to choreograph a chase scene with two people that it is for three.
We are also just getting our heads round the fact that some of the performances will be masked - a new technique for us, and the fact that we will be performing in the round. I couldn't resist choosing in the round as the style, because it was available and goes so well with narratives due to the intimacy lent by the seating.
however, the performers are having to modify everything that they have learned in order to accomodate the need to be aesthetic and visible throughout the performances to audiences on three sides rather than one.
We have had so many changes - usually sudden and often with profound effects on the group and the performance - to accomodate that the word "catastrophe" had taken on a new meaning. Now it just means "yet another change that needs to be accomodated as well as possible by whatever means we have to hand" This is great for me, an old school catastrophic thinker who sees the end of the world in the bottom of an empty sugar bowl.
Promotion
We have had 200 flyers and 200 posters made. All but about 80 of the posters have been put out in various place, however it would be good to get the others out. A press release has been put together by Damon and will be sent out over the weekend. The audience may be largely friends and family and may not be very large, but we will try to get as many as possible, and quite a bit of interest is being generated.
Drama for Health or Artistic endeavour - the way forward?
Finally, an important word about our initial reason to be, and the way I am working.
I've had some conflict over the last year or so, to varying degrees, over my personal reasons for doing Konnektiv.
First of all I wanted a group in a workshop format that I could introduce drama techniques to in a way that might facilitate a greater sense of wellbeing. this is the Drama for Health side.
However, I soon began to want to put on performances, and as soon as we started to do this, the most important thing to me was to do good theatre, entertain audiences and have an artistic outcome that the group members can all be proud of.
I have stopped being an easy going arts for health facilitator to becoming a highly focussed director. Are these two roles incompatible? Maybe.
Is it incomprehensible to think of a drama for health group that creates good drama? I don't think so. But maybe others do.
In July Konnektiv will be having our first AGM, and these are the thoughts that I will be taking to the committee when we are deciding which is the way forward for Konnektiv for the following 12 months.
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