Category: Initial Ideas

The Starting Point: Forming Ideas

Through numerous intensive group discussions, we have decided to focus our theatre company around the premise of creating children’s theatre for adults, by either manipulating already known fairytales, or trying to find the core dark elements within children’s stories which we could corrupt, twist and change to create a unique piece of theatre.

Our director is already familiar with the short gothic stories entitled The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter, and we have an enthusiastic script writing team who are keen to try and adapt and fuse two or more of her short tales from within this volume. On my part, as Chief Designer for the set of the production, I am keen to start collating ideas, visual stimuli and any other creative triggers which I find during my next few days of research, to form a selection of workable stage pictures as both a practical model, and a solid, clear and powerful composition.

By starting with the concept of a collision of two worlds, and through discussions with the director, I will work along the themes of creating and distorting liminal spaces, trying to disconcert the audience and sheer away the boundaries between conventional and surreal stimulating theatrical experiences. I hope to be able to make use of, emphasise and develop my relatively broad knowledge of scenic composition and painting skills from previous production projects, to create my most ambitious set to date.

Word Count: 232.

 

Works Cited:

Carter, Angela (1995) The Bloody Chamber, London: Vintage Press.

*Appendices The Gothic Revival: From Context to Contemporary

This week we have been exploring the short Gothic stories of Angela  horror, specifically her adaptations of fairytales in her 1979 work The Bloody Chamber. The potency of the Gothic genre has extended from the Gothic revival of the eighteenth century to twentieth century modern fiction. In this blog we aim to establish context and inspirations from the Gothic genre which we can build through our theatrical adaptations of  fairytale.

Goya_-_Caprichos_(43)_-_Sleep_of_Reason752px-John_Henry_Fuseli_-_The_Nightmare

(Goya’s ‘Sleep of Reason’ and Henry Fuseli’s ‘The Nightmare’)

Angela Carter – Gothic horror and conventions are taken to the extreme, the pinnacle of heightened emotions contrasted with childhood innocence. This links to the context of the eighteenth century Gothic revival, where “middle class readers, safely tucked into their stable and unthreatened the social positions, could feel secure enough to cultivate imaginary fears and fantasies, in the same way that a child may do, reading horror stories and experiencing the delicious thrill while apparently immune from real danger.” (Gothic Tradition, David Stevens, p10)

This ties in with the genre of sensibility which ran parallel to the Gothic revival. This was the move away from rationalism and  towards heightened emotions concentrating on fantasy and escapism. There was a sense that “over-reliance on reason could rob human experience of its essential flavour.”(Gothic Tradition, David Stevens, p10)

Gothic and the Child

“The link between the Gothic and the experience of childhood is, perhaps, an especially strong one … many adults remember formative reading experiences in which fear played a compelling part, at once terrifying in its intensity and strangely fascinating and attractive. So-called ‘fairy tales’, clearly, are  excellent examples of this perennial fascination – it is hard to think of a fairy tale which does not feature some form of darkness or evil” (Gothic Tradition, David Stevens p32-33).

(Word Count: 314)

 

Works Cited:

Stevens, David (2000) The Gothic Tradition, Cambridge University Press.

Carter, Angela (1995) The Bloody Chamber, London: Vintage Classics.

 

The Bloody Chamber and The Snow Child

We are discussing the possibility of merging two stories together that have already been written as dark fairy tales to give us a platform to begin our script with. The Bloody Chamber and The Snow Child are the favourite stories within the group to use for our story. Due to the lack of characters within the two stories it would require us creating new characters that would be essential to the story and also have intended interaction with the characters already within the story.

After deliberating we came up with the idea that we would adapt The Bloody Chamber to show that there isn’t really any type of ending within reality. So there is no happy ever after and that actions will generally lead to a new story within life. We decided to use the characters; The Count, The Countess, and The Piano Tuner and in put The Snow Child into this story which will then lead on to expanding the story surrounding The Bloody Chamber.

We are intending on producing two new characters that will both be integral to the story and its content. Firstly we are toying with the idea of developing a character that is the all seeing eye within The Counts castle who witnesses all that happens there and all that is said. We are thinking this could be a Housekeeper or Maid type character that will be devoted to serving The Count.

We are also contemplating developing a character that would be an escapee from The Counts chamber who is in the story to warn The Countess of her husbands vile tendencies. This character could be an ex-wife of The Count, who has obviously been affected by what she has seen in her past. The two characters are characters that can be essential to the story but also characters that the actors can work on to make their own and over the coming months can experiment on.

 

Robert Bull

Theatre Ad Infinitum

Theatre Ad Infinitum are a multi-award-winning international theatre company who specialise in physicalizing  performances. Their aim is to produce performances which “move, challenge and inspire” ((Theatre Ad Infinitum (2013) ‘About Us’. (Accessed 30 January 2013)  Available at: http://www.theatreadinfinitum.co.uk/)) audiences of all cultures and nationalities.

“We all share a passion for innovative theatre making that speaks to a global community, and create performances that harness the universal language of the body” ((Theatre Ad Infinitum (2013) ‘About Us’. (Accessed 30 January 2013)  Available at: http://www.theatreadinfinitum.co.uk)).

translunar-paradise-3

This theatre company interests us because of their use of physical theatre, mask work and mime, which has developed their ability to captivate an audience without speaking. They have mastered the art of story telling without using words. In order to create a spectacle worthy of a storybook, the way in which our theatre company presents our story is vital. We can take inspiration from this company because of their unique methods of captivating an audience.

‘“The Lecoq-trained mime ensemble Theatre ad Infinitum have moved to the front of the pack, their vivid mix of theatre, clowning and storytelling gaining them critical acclaim” – The Guardian’ ((Theatre Ad Infinitum (2013) ‘Awards & Reviews’. (Accessed 30 January 2013)  Available at: http://www.theatreadinfinitum.co.uk)).

On Thursday 14th February 2012, Theatre Ad Infinitum performed their production of Translunar Paradise at the Lincoln Drill Hall, which was both incredibly moving and inspiring. This production used mask-work and live music to produce a sensual and emotive performance, which highlighted its themes of loneliness, grief and love. “Translunar Paradise takes you on a journey of life, death, and enduring love. After his wife passes away, William escapes to a paradise of fantasy and past memories, a place far from the reality of his grief. Returning from beyond the grave, Rose revisits her widowed companion to perform one last act of love: to help him let go. Using a live accordion accompaniment, this exquisite piece of mask and movement theatre was a critically acclaimed sellout at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011” ((Lincoln Drill Hall (2012) ‘Theatre Ad Infinitum’. (Accessed on 30 January 2013)  Available at: http://www.lincolndrillhall.com/events/theatre-ad-infinitum-translunar-paradise)).

The way in which this piece highlights its emotional themes through music and movement are techniques which our theatre company might hope to replicate in our own performances.

Kate Dawson

Word Count: 373

Works Cited

Why Adapt Children’s Literature?

An adaptation is said to be “the re-casting of a work from one genre to another (adaptation of a novel for the stage, for instance)” ((Pavis, Patrice and Christine Shantz (1998) Dictionary of the Theatre: Terms, Concepts, and Analysis. Toronto: University of Toronto Press Ltd.  p.14.)). Adapting a novel into a theatre production enables a theatre company to utilise the essence of a previously successful/popular story, while allowing them to intertwine the original text with their own unique ideas. Therefore, making the old become the new.

For a newly established theatre company, we feel creating an adaptation is both a wise move as well as taking a risk.

It allows us to use a story, which has already proven itself to be popular and, if advertised efficiently, will hopefully attract a significantly large audience. However, being that the public will already know the story they are paying to see, adapting the original text into our own form could perhaps mean the audience will not take to it as they did the original.

The act of transforming a novel into a theatre script is not a task to be taken lightly, which is part of the reason why, as a company, we decided to direct our attention towards children’s literature. These stories hold within them magic and imagination, which is unparalleled in the adult world yet the comparably basic story lines and characters allow our company to efficiently adapt the story without tackling the complexities of adult literature.

The simple yet moving story lines will also compliment the elaborate staging our company favours.

 “Complex staging + simple storyline = successful spectacle”

Kate Dawson.

Word Count: 273

Works Cited

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