Anatomy of a Prop

In which Alex, our long-suffering Stage Manager, peers out from behind her pile of lists to explain how to make a camera out of cardboard boxes - and why her life is controlled by the whims of her Director...
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I had one of those moments during rehearsal a few weeks ago. You know the kind. The actors are playing and workshopping, and the director says: ‘And then Sam, you’ll be setting up the camera…’
You watch for a few minutes, realise that ‘Sam, you’ll be setting up the camera’ is going to stay in the sequence, and reach for your props list.
Half an hour later, you’re going through said list with your ASM:
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Me: So, cushion for Yorick: Emily. Cloak: you. Crown?
ASM: Prop store. Hopefully.
Me: We have a perfume bottle, and we have a clipboard?
ASM: What about the camera?
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Good question, ASM. What about the camera?

Well, ASM, I’ll tell you. We make the camera, and we draw upon the immortal genius of Michel Gondry to do it. Yes: like many breakthroughs, mine came while doing something totally unrelated – watching a film. And if you’ve ever seen ‘The Science of Sleep’, you’ll know when my epiphany came just a few seconds in, when one of the characters started to film his imaginary television series using…a cardboard camera.
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Me: So, what should it look like?
Director: Oh, you know...a camera.
Me: Yes...and...
Director: A big, hilarious, cartoon-ish camera.
Me: Anything more specific than that?
Director: I can make you a mood board for it, if you like?

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So, with a little help from my friend Michel, I scrounged some cardboard boxes, some black paint and some PVA glue, and I rolled up my sleeves.


Brief instructions:
- Tape your boxes together (a large box for the body of the camera, a flat one on top, and a lens made of a cylinder and a small flat box). Add a handle on the side.
- Paper mache your boxes.
- Paint your camera!

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So here we have it! The finished item! After a week of smelling like PVA and being covered in black paint (sometimes I think I have the equivalent of a BA (Hons) in Painting Things Black), I can now provide the cast with a camera!

Stage one...

Stage two...

Ready for your close-up?

See that, director?

Bring it on.

Theatre magic, ensemble values and Northern accents!

To continue our blog series on Standby's creative process, one of our newest recruits, the fabulous Claire Martin, shares her thoughts on joining the company and getting involved with the showcase...

What happens when young, artistic people move to Stratford upon Avon, drawn by the pull of the Royal Shakespeare Company? I can tell you – Standby Theatre happens! There is such a wealth of talent from various creative backgrounds: producers, directors, stage managers, musicians, photographers, actors, writers, the list is endless! And it's inevitable when a group of young creatives collect in one location that theatre magic will happen. I have witnessed this happening as one of the newest members of Standby Theatre, currently re-working ‘Lovers and Madmen’ for the RSC Open Stages showcase in March.

I became involved with Standby soon after my arrival in Stratford, initially hoping that I would be able to help out in any way possible on the day of the showcase. I was thrilled when Lotty and Alex gave me the part of ‘Floor Manager,’ I can now run around with the rest of the group and really feel like a part of the ensemble (The good old RSC values are clearly influencing me here!)

Rehearsals are well under way now and in recent weeks Alex and Lotty have asked me to help run some voice work exercises to help with projection and diction. Aha! That East 15 voice training has come in very handy! I really went to town with this task and designed a whole four page document for the group, including various vocal techniques based on Patsy Rodenburg’s work, focusing on projection, tension, resonance and diction. We've already put some of these into practice and hopefully some of the techniques will be useful for the performance in March.

It’s so nice to contribute to the rehearsal process, offering tips that I picked up from my drama school training. No scene in ‘Lovers and Madmen’ is precious and must be copied exactly as it had been done before, and that’s what makes Standby so exciting for me. The group is constantly striving for creative brilliance and how lucky are we that we have such a range of skills in our midst? There are no tensions within the group (a rarity in a rehearsal situation!) and everyone feels comfortable and willing to try new things. For example, my suggestion that one of the performers should use a northern accent brought a whole new dimension to the character, making the whole company laugh out loud.

Standby proves that exciting theatre can come from anywhere. We are all confident that ‘Lovers and Madmen’ will be fantastic fun on the day and well worth all of the hard work. The project was born through people coming together and hoping to create something brilliant. Everyone offers something to the creative process and I feel sure that there will be many more exciting projects to come.

Re-Direction

So how do you take a piece of mad-cap street theatre and re-stage it for a large, formal, indoor thrust stage?

I don’t know. Honestly, I have never done anything like this before. I have directed a fair few shows before, I have directed for a thrust stage before (a tiny fringe venue with only 80 seats), and I took the lead directorial role for ‘Lovers and Madmen’ last summer, but this is the RSC’s Courtyard Theatre we’re talking about! That stage has played host to Tim Minchin's Matilda, David Tennant's Hamlet and Michael Boyd's Histories. This is huge. Huge and utterly terrifying.

But if we’re going to create 10 minutes of dazzling stage action, which will leave Michael Boyd crying into his beer at our sheer brilliance, then I need to conquer my fears and tackle the challenge head on. So first I summon up everything I’ve ever been taught about staging techniques, everything I’ve observed working front of house and add in my own take on the space. For me that’s the crucial element: Do not copy. As a director the work you produced should be suffused with your personality and style, it should be utterly unique and you should feel that; had someone else taken it on it would have emerged looking and feeling drastically different.

To elicit this flair, this difference, we have used games. Lots of games. Sometimes actors can resent games, they enter the rehearsal room tired and uninspired hoping for some robotic blocking to be taking place and we make them run about like zombie penguins. What’s the point? They wonder. Are these games adding anything, or going anywhere? The truth is that they are (for me) a crucial part of the creative process, they allow the actors to play, to free up their imaginations both mentally and physically, break down inhibitions and give them license to experiment. I do not think they should be considered as separate from the staging process either. Every scene is a game, or a chase. For example: Person A wants something from person B, person B does not want to give it to them. Also, when putting a text ‘on its feet’ you have to think tactically about space. It should not be left up to the director to manipulate the actors around like puppets – where’s the fun in that? The actors need to own the stage space, think tactically and imaginatively about it to find their own shape to the scene, their own journey through that space and their own, very personal, relationship with the audience.

At this moment in the rehearsal process we are experimenting with the thrust shape – discovering what works, what doesn’t, how you avoid sightline pitfalls and use its inherent diagonals. We are also playing, letting the script guide us and then adding a good dose of messing about, and libbing and silly voices. Characters are changing, evolving and growing, with the actors being encouraged on to new levels of silliness and fun, to keep this comedy fresh and buzzing.

Taketh me out...again.

A bit of a tumbleweed has blown across our blog but Standby HQ has been anything but quiet recently! We received an early Christmas present with the news that we'd been selected for the Open Stages showcase on the 18th of March 2012. Naturally, we were all delighted and couldn't wait to get creative again, even though a lot of hard work would inevitably be involved.

Given a ten minute slot to fill, we had to make a decision about which section of the play would represent our work and values the best. Puck's dating game show, Taketh Me Out, was the most obvious choice for us all, providing what we hope will be a fun, lively and engaging insight into what we're all about. Decision made, it was now time for my part to come first. As co-writer of Lovers and Madmen, I had the daunting task of shaking off the excess of the festive season and getting down to revisiting the script...but I won't bore you with the details or spoil the surprise for March. I will, however, share some thoughts on the three things I valued most during the editing process.

1. Distance.

It's important to have distance from what you're writing, any and every 'how to' textbook will emphasise this point repeatedly. Luckily for me, there was a sizeable gap between our final performance last July and the call to dust off the script.

Distance gives the cringes time to subside and the objective voice to overtake. If every writer edited the second they'd typed the last word then frankly nothing would ever survive beyond their computer screen. For a theatre performance, distance also gives you the time to reflect and discuss what worked and more importantly what didn't work the first time round, taking into consideration what new challenges you will have to face. Instead of throwing the script out of the window (always check they're locked) I found myself welcoming the opportunity to look at it with refreshed eyes, supported by the wise and encouraging feedback of my fellow Standbyers.

Also, if a line isn't working, chill. It's okay to walk away from it and come back after a bucket of tea and an episode or 6 of The Office. It isn't going anywhere, trust me.

2. Faith.

Okay, that's a little deep (try 'positive attitude' for a less pithy but equally accurate term), but a little dose of faith really doesn't go wrong. Faith shuts up that critical voice that stops you from getting things done and it reminds you of everything you've achieved so far, pushing you to work harder. Remember why you started writing in the first place and believe that you can try your best to improve. Sadly, faith alone won't get those words on the page, but we all love a challenge, right?

3. Enjoyment.

Perhaps the most important point of all. Writing isn't scary and there are no right or wrong answers. Honestly, it can and should be fun, especially when you're making theatre. Half of the joy lies in throwing yourself back into it and seeing where your thoughts take you. It's only a play.

And because I'm a sucker for threads tying together, my final thought is this: Theatre is a collaborative process. And repeat. Once I finished the edit, I knew that my script was going into capable, open-minded and frankly gorgeous hands. Work hard at your contribution and have fun with it, but recognise when it is your turn to take a step back and create that distance again. I have a huge amount of faith in the crazy and wonderful people of Standby as they work on the story and bring it to life in ways I hadn't even imagined. I can't wait to see what they've achieved in March.

So, the cast and crew are deep in rehearsals now, but stay tuned for more from us soon!

ps. Forgive me for the title, I couldn't resist!

The Journey of my Journey

Wow this is hard. Why did I think taking an audience for a walk in the park would be such a walk in the park? I am realising that creating an imersive audience experience with just an mp3 player is a tough challenge.

At first I tried to be clever. I tried to tackle big themes of life and death, love and loss. Imagine an mp3 tour which lectures you about the human condition while you saunter down a leafy path - pretentious or what.

After days of soul searching, historical research and reading I made a crucial breakthrough. This performance is not about me. It's not about my journey or ideas. It's all about you, the 'audience' or participant. So instead of telling I am asking. Guiding my traveler along their own path, with their own unique response to the place in which they find themselves. To help them to do this I will use music and simple questions interspersed with instructions, allowing each journey a different route, emotional response and outcome.

So now the practicalities of timing and clarity come into play. Each part of the journey has to be timed and each instruction must be easy to follow. The real test will be when I let my participants loose. Let's just hope no one gets lost!

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We've set ourselves quite a challenge here at Standby Theatre. Site-specific theatre. Oh yes, nothing like throwing ourselves at the theatrical deep end. But we love a challenge, and that's exactly what it will be. Our first production, 'Lovers and Madmen' was a tremendous amount of fun. We played with some of Shakepeare's best loved characters in a new, fun context, and despite cramming it in alongside our full time jobs, we achieved a lot in a few short months.

But we can't rest on our successes. We all agreed that we want to take it that stumble further and create something totally new that compliments the many talented people in the group. If someone wants to play the spoons or sing a Haiku, let them! It's all about letting our creativity blossom and shine.

After exploring an amazing derelictish space, we sadly realised that the floor resembling jelly really wasn't going to be conducive with a safe, lively theatre experience. Thinking hats firmly back in place, Lotty and I explored Holy Trinity Churchyard and the paths leading towards it. We may have looked crackers scribbling down names from Victorian Gravestones and hiding in dens of trees, but we realised that something as simple as an everyday pathway could be used to great dramatic purpose. Throw in an mp3 player, some carefully crafted directions and a few unsuspecting audience members and bam! That's theatre, right? Well, kind of.

The prickle with the term 'site-specific' is that it is often bandied about without any real thought- a 'trendy' term that will entice a younger audience away from twitter for a few hours. But here at Standby we want to create a site-specific piece in the purest sense- a play born from a direct response to a place. The place informs the action, not the other way round.

So, that sounds like fun, but how to we start? To ease ourselves into what is quite a daunting task, we're developing some simple directions. I'm currently asking myself odd questions such as 'What is the abstract emotion for this place?' and 'What visual images develop from the weather of this environment?' in order to create something. Who knows if this piece will be used as anything more than valuable practice but what the process will hopefully demonstrate is that the audience will be taken on a unique journey, using mixed media but keeping it simple, allowing the heart of the place and its inhabitants to tell the story. For a writer, this is the most exciting stage of the process, facing a brand new project that is inscribed with a huge sense of freedom. People respond to environments in a variety of ways, and it's my job to explore one interpretation of that.

Practically, we are also giving ourselves more time to develop this piece, but we hope to see it all coming together beautifully very soon.

Now, back to the pen and paper (I like my traditional methods.) I'm determined to get the name Eustace in there somewhere...

A Little Adventure... Exploring Promenade and Site Specific Performance.

Before we start planning our next project we want to play! We need to have fun and experiment so we can discover new ways of working together. 
So, a group of us have begun to create a promenade adventure for the rest of the team. We have mp3 players, a phone box, a church yard and our imaginations... We will post our results and even put the mp3 files online so you can experience the journey for yourself. 

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