Background

Andy Smith has been making theatre and performance as a smith since 2003, creating a body of work that is characteristically simple and accessible in form but unafraid to approach and address big and complex subjects. His most recent solo projects are all that is solid melts into air (2011) and commonwealth (2012). Along with Karl James he is the co-director of the award winning plays An Oak Tree, ENGLAND and The Author by Tim Crouch.

Smith, A. (2012). About a smith. Available: http://www.asmithontheinternet.com/. Last accessed 29th Jan, 2013.

On the 29th January, 2013 Andy Smith visited the University of Lincoln to give a workshop on “What is needed to make a theatre?”

Early in the workshop Andy remarked that he sees the process of devising theatre a process of reduction; reduction in that he takes theatre “back to basics”, so to speak so that he has no need for spectacle, flamboyance but instead himself, a performance space and an audience. This view is not dissimilar to Peter Brooks’ view in The Empty Space (2008, p. 1): “I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage”.

Across the workshop we took part in 3 activities each demonstrating the process of reduction and the ability to be spontaneous rather than elaborate and meticulous.

1. What makes a theatre?

We began the workshop by dividing into groups and listing all the things we thought made up a theatre.

An example of what we thought made a theatre.

We initially listed what we thought was needed for theatre though not a specific type of theatre which was almost problematic because of the various characteristics and attributes of the differing types of theatre. The list became fairly vast. Immediately afterwards we were asked to underline the 3 necessities of what makes a theatre. We, as a group, decided on Enthusiasm, Location and People. We did for a small time debate the labelling of the term “space” but after much deliberation we decided any other term may be inappropriate given that theatre merely requires a space rather than a labelled space.

2. Representation and Storytelling reduced.

The second activity of the day was to draw a partner twice.

An attempt to capture the essence of a face and then its reduction by drawing simply what we thought made the face

The first time we drew our partner, we had a minute and a half. The process seemed deceptively simple regardless of drawing ability because we simply drew what we could see. What was interesting was that each person focussed on most of the face and yet emphasized one thing over everything else. The second part of this activity was to reduce our perception of the face and draw what we thought made up the face in only 10 seconds. We completed both drawings on the same piece of paper next to each other in order be able to see the difference between the two and illustrate which had more depth to it. In my opinion, the second drawing forced us to capture something more vivid and unique about the face rather than focus on it as a whole.

3. Creation of anything within a space

The final activity of the session was to list anything we wished to see within a room. Various answers jumped to mind, each as bizarre as the next. We picked 3 of them immediately afterwards and switched answers with the other group. The task was to create one or more of the selected items/things within the room in under 10 minutes. The process wasn’t terribly difficult but it illustrated how many of us overcomplicate theatre and immediately looks to props, lighting and sounds in order to create it. In fact it turned out to be a simple task once we reduced down the elements of the chosen items and took a simple approach using just our bodies, noise and the space.

An Oak Tree

An Oak Tree (as found in the Tate Modern)

An Oak Tree consists of an ordinary glass of water placed on a small glass shelf of the type normally found in a bathroom, which is attached to the wall above head height. Craig-Martin composed a series of questions and answers to accompany the objects. In these, the artist claims that the glass of water has been transformed into an oak tree. When An Oak Tree was first exhibited, in 1974 at Rowan Gallery, London, the text was presented printed on a leaflet. It was subsequently attached to the wall below and to the left of the shelf and glass. Craig-Martin’s text deliberately asserts the impossible. The questions probe the obvious impossibility of the artist’s assertion with such apparently valid complaints as: ‘haven’t you simply called this glass of water an oak tree?’ and ‘but the oak tree only exists in the mind’.

Manchester, E. (2002). An Oak Tree. Available: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/craig-martin-an-oak-tree-l02262/text-summary. Last accessed 07th January, 2013.

We finally looked at The Oak Tree, a piece of art by Michael Craig Martin. As outlined above, it was a piece of art that questioned what was and what wasn’t, especially when there is no valid proof or ability to disprove a claim. It is highly relative to to theatre because  we can become anything we wish to even if we look no different. The assertion that we are one thing, if not disproven, can be canon.

Overall, the workshop was highly useful. As we as a group are in our devising and planning phase, we begun to take a new look at the intended production. While we are a technology heavy theatre company, we can still use the elements of reduction in story, staging, lighting and sound to create a performance that, at its core, has a meaning rather than a spectacle masquerading very little underneath merely for the sake of spectacle. It will be applied in all areas of the production and allow us to create a performance that has depth instead of a story with flashy effects.

For more information on Andy Smith, visit his website: http://www.asmithontheinternet.com/