24.1.11
Black it most certainly was
17.1.11
The Winter Tales
The Winter Tales (facebook page) were a series of chilling short stories based in The Kings Arms pub in Clerkenwell. After entering the pub I was given a a white sticker which determined my group for the rest of the night. There were 5 stories being performed on rotation.
The white group's first story happened in the basement of the pub; the story suitably named 'Basement.' Two actors then entered the basement and the dialogue unfolded. Not so much a fan of the story itself with a predictable ending, I say predictable, but I mean the kind of ending you hope it didn't follow but it ended up following, I was however excited by the idea of basing the story in the dark. In the same way you would listen to a radio show and would create form the figures from your imagination, this worked in the same way.
After that is was on the ground floor for 'Nervous Wreck,' a script by my friend Cathy Thomas. Next to the window was a member I had not recognised from the group, a round, bearded man, pint in hand (think Brian Blessed. He looked up to acknowledge us and followed that with the tale of a young landlord. The script was great and left a lot for your imagination. The three standout performances for me were the ones performed by a solo actor.
'Foxes' followed, a story about two young lovers. The script was good, as were the actors, but I could not believe them as they looked too nice for the dark character they were portraying.
After the break it was upstairs once more for 'Babby's Lament,' an intense performance from a cracking actress. She spoke the story beautifully and kept me engaged throughout. She would make deep eye to eye contact with members of the audience pulling you deeper into the story.
The final act was 'Ghostly #7,' the tale of a young omnibus driver who's jealousy had resulted in the death of his loved one. His character was engaging and believable, so much so one of the ladies had tears in her eyes. The story being told happened on a street just a few corners from the pub so it's proximity helped intensify the story.
These 20 minutes blocks of drama, even without the 'lights, camera, action' managed to stimulate your imagination in its most simple form with just a few actors and a small audience. I went in without any expectations and left with my mind thriving with ideas.
Serpentine
I went to see a fantastic exhibition at the Serpentine (beautiful little gallery in the middle of the park) with pieces by Philippe Parreno and Tom Hunter. Hunter's work was the documentary style film, 'A Palace for Us.' A fab short film about the residents of Woodberry Lane estate, currently a site of major development. It communicated a real sense of what it was like to be a part of the community within the estate; a great place to live in the post war bomb ravaged city.
Parreno's work included AC/DC Snakes (which was incredibly similar to a piece we handed in for a project to promote the university degree show) with multiple plugs plugged into one another.
The other piece was a film shown in three rooms. After watching the first, the lights went on and the shutters opened, and you moved to the next room. The same again, and the same again. Following the final film, Invisibleboy, laughter was played and the windows opened to show snow falling. It was a beautifully filmed piece of work with a narrative that made sure you did a lot of thinking yourself. The system of moving between rooms was engaging and well timed.
8.1.11
theartschool
There's a substantial write up on theartschool workshop I took part in in December on the Creative Review blog. Have a mosey.
4.1.11
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