Posted on March 24, 2016 by Charlotte Fage

Let’s Get Physical

(Lincoln School of Fine and Performing Arts, 2016)

“While the word ‘devising’ does not insist on more than one participant, ‘collaborative creation’ clearly does” (Heddon and Milling, 2006, 2) and although as a company we had a director we soon discovered the devising and creating process became more of a collaborative one. At first this was a difficult task as we all had different strengths and weaknesses but we soon found that the best way to find the right balance was to play around with ideas and be practical. Having previously decided that the six of us female performers were to become an ensemble we felt it important for the “actor/performer […] [to] become part of a creative partnership in authoring the emergent theatre piece in question” (Murray and Keefe, 2007, 18). Our director and assistant director would give us a concept for a scene and then the seven of us would either try things as a group or split off into smaller groups. We wanted a scene between Barbara and Sam and so felt it best to split off into groups of two and after 10/15 minutes we came back together to present our work. The final routine we added to the show became a mixture of parts from all four pairs’ routines, incorporating each person’s interpretation of the exercise in a truly collaborative manner. Having a director and assistant director proved invaluable during the choreography process as “the shaping of theatre and choreography requires an outside eye and it is this objective influence that can liberate the performer to be brave, take risks and try new things” (Graham and Hoggart, 8). To help us with the physical aspect of the show we researched various different companies and shows to gain inspiration for choreography. The work of Frantic Assembly and Reckless Sleepers can be clearly seen throughout the show with a Hymns Hands sequence and a Negative Spacing section showing the clearest influence. The reason these two companies became of most use to us was because we felt as a company that their work could convey a story effectively with little to no dialogue. Another reason is that we were more able to physically perform the work of Frantic Assembly and Reckless Sleepers, we found these companies much more accessible as the seven of us are not professionally trained Physical Theatre performers.

We also all helped to write the dialogue in the show. We were each given a small exercise book in which to write in. After rehearsals our director would ask us to write letters as Sam, at the next rehearsal we would read them all aloud and form his letters for the show out of the seven letters written. Another way to help us all really understand Sam and his relationship with space was for us to draw pictures of what we thought Sam would think space was like. Through these exercises the character of Sam bloomed into a fully rounded little boy that we all felt a connection with. As well as forming the dialogue within the show the letters in our exercise books also helped to inspire certain scenes and sequences within the show.

Graham, S. and Hoggart, S. (2009) The Frantic Assembly Book of Devising Theatre. London: Routledge.

Heddon, D. and Milling, J. (2006) Devising Performance: A Critical History. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Lincoln School of Fine and Performing Arts (2016) How I Got To The Moon And Back [image]. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/61839232@N02/albums/72157668377551582 [Accessed 24 May 2016].

Murray, S. and Keefe, J. (2007) Physical Theatres: A Critical Introduction. London and New York: Routledge.

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Mary Harris

One Costume, One Ensemble

‘We are affected by the more subtle aspects of costume: the psychological use of colour and texture, the careful underlying of plot points’ (Holt, 1993, 7).

From the offset, my co-designer of costume and I decided on an understated base costume that unified the ensemble. We settled on layered, black clothing that came down to the performers’ wrists and ankles and came up to the base of their necks.

Due to our show, ‘How I Got to the Moon and Back’, heavily involving physical theatre it was necessary for the costumes to allow ample movement. To achieve a successful performance to the best of our ability the performers could not be restricted by clothing. Furthermore it was important for me that the costumes complimented the movement not just allowed it, costume is an extension of the character created onstage and therefore every movement had to be emphasised by the costume. ‘Costume is part of the actors’ apparatus’ (Holt, 1993, 7). With this in mind Lily, my co-designer, and I then refined our vision and decided to have the all-female ensemble in either a skater cut dress or skirt. This was a flattering cut for all figures, as our ensemble all have different body shapes. It also created a feminine image for when the performers took on the roles of Barbara and Sally. Furthermore the A-line cut allowed the skirts to fan out during movement sequences and therefore became an extension of the choreography in the show.

For practicality (and for the protection of dignity) we also had the ensemble wearing plain, black leggings rather than black tights, there was to be no knicker-flashing in this show! Additionally every ensemble member wore a long-sleeved black top either tucked into their skirt or layered underneath their dress to full cover their arms. This created a uniformed image and immediately showed the audience that these characters were not naturalistic. ‘As soon as the actors appear, even before they speak, the audience will have gleaned a great deal of information’ (Holt, 1993, 7). Because as a company we spent a great deal of time working on the ensemble moving and becoming one entity and the costume needed to reflect that. Despite the different heights, shapes and sizes of each performer the audience needed to understand the ensemble as one.

(Crow, 2016)

Lily and I chose to have full-length sleeves and leggings not just to ensure unity but also to emphasize the facial expressions and hand gestures of the ensemble. This was hugely important because our show was lacking in dialogue and therefore relied on physical expression and movement to tell the story. A playful scene wherein the 8 year old protagonist plays with the characters in his imagination does not appear playful if the performers do not express it with their faces and body language. A neutral face becomes a cheeky grin and long strides become short, quick steps to imitate child-like movements. By having the ensemble in a black costume against a black background these moments are accentuated and the audience’s attention is subconsciously led to exactly where we wish.

Works Cited:

Holt, M. (1993) A Phaidon Theatre: Manual Costume and Make-up. 2^nd edition. London: Phaidon Press Limited.

Crowe, P. (2016) How I Got To The Moon And Back. Lincoln University. [online] Flickr. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/61839232@N02/albums/72157668377551582 [Accessed 24 May 2016].

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Rebecca Anne Lothian

PinPoint’s Pub Quiz!

Shay Sayre states that event marketing is a “fast growing, high profile industry and a very successful marketing strategy. Events provide a promotional occasion that attracts and involves the brand’s target audience.” (Sayre, 2008, 236).

Our first event took place at Walkabout Lincoln last week and was a space themed pub quiz, in which the winner could gain a free Walkabout food and drink tab. The marketing team used Facebook as the main marketing source for the actual event, and used the time during the pub quiz to speak to people and interest them in the performance.

Everyone seemed really keen to hear about our company and why we were raising money. Although this event was for the sole purpose of fundraising, it benefited our company and its relationship with the public. Allowing ourselves to mingle and meet new people, others were able to meet our members of the company in a casual manner.

Our event was incredibly successful and very fun. We raised over 125 pounds, which I believe is going straight to our set design and props department, and we met some lovely people who appeared very interested in our company and first production.

Work Cited

Sayre, S. (2008) Entertainment Marketing & Communication: Selling branded performance, people, and places. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Dominique Sabina Gent

Trial and Error

As the rehearsal process progressed and our piece began to take shape, my ideas for set and props developed and changed profusely. When discussing with Harry and Emily our director and assistant director, we decided that the planets hung around the auditorium would create a confusion and break in the barrier between the imagination and reality of Sam, the boy whose story we follow throughout our piece. Although the planet’s were not involved in the set anymore, we decided to include a physical sequence within our piece that still used lights that appeared to planets or stars. Using paper lanterns and fairy lights we decided to create an imagination sequence centered around Sam, giving the illusion that he was being surrounded and intrigued by different planets/ stars. This is a close up photo of the lantern, and a video of one of this week’s rehearsals in which we began creating duets with the lights in order to spark ideas for the rest of the imagination sequence.

PinPoint Theatre Company, (2016) Light Sequence Rehearsal

Gent, D. (2016) Paper Lantern Planet

Whilst devising our show and creating different scenes I made various different props to enhance the production, some of these were kept and some others were changed or taken out for different reasons, mainly because we all felt that they did not fit in with the style of the show. For example when attempting to devise as scene that would show the development in Sam’s personality, we were going to have him build a jetpack, in an attempt to be like the workers at NASA. I created a jetpack, by finding inspiration from different photos on pinterest and using some materials that I already had at home. However, as the piece developed further we decided it was not necessary to include the Jetpack building scene, it was just mentioned throughout in different letters written by Sam.

Gent, D. (2016) The Jetpack.

When discussing the colour of the boxes with Emily it also became clear that in order to use the boxes to create multiple stage pictures it would be easier to paint them black all over rather than the galaxy print, this will enable us to use them to create multiple illusions. Caspar Neher states;

“A Marble pillar can only be translated, i.e. at best hinted at; while if a turbine were a real one it would break the stage floor. This means that one always has to allow the audience to set their imagination to work in order to believe it could be a turbine, or might be a marble pillar. So you have to have an element of conjuring illusion.” (Neher, C in Willett, J, 1986, 76)

I designed the boxes so that we could use them in order to create different illusions for the audience and to enable us as an ensemble to remain present on stage throughout the performance reinforcing the illusion that we are playing the roles of Sams imagination, therefore we would always be present. Two of the main pictures we have decided we want to create are; a fort for Sam to sit in during the preset of the show and a rocket that Sam builds in the end scene of the show. The way in which I will create these images, is with the use of other props that can be stored inside the boxes throughout the performance and then attached to the boxes when needed.

Works Cited:

Neher, C., in Willett, J. (1986) Caspar Neher, Brecht’s designer. London: Methuen Publishing Ltd.

Gent, D. (2016) Paper Lantern Planets.

PinPoint Theatre Company, (2016) Light Sequence Rehearsal. [Online Video] Available From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=753h9v0yNvE

Gent, D. (2016) The Jetpack

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Emily Rose Cartwright

Let there be light

Setting a story in the mind of an 8 year old boy is always going to be tough. Although the job of lighting designer was taken by Charlotte Fage because of the large part the technical elements will take in the final show I have worked closely with her in the designing of the lighting. Although I have taken a back seat role in the over arching lighting design, I have helped with small sections of the show to help to create the imagination state we have been trying to create.

The lights sequence- Crowe, P (2016)

Early on in the process we had decided that Sam would begin the show imagining that he was on the moon. The idea of outer space and a child’s imagination gave us a large scope to play with when breaking down the walls between reality and imagination and with the stylised nature of the show we really have the freedom to go nuts when it comes to certain lighting sequences. The freedom has allowed us to explore things we usually wouldn’t expect to see on stage.

For the last couple of weeks Harry and I have been discussing the idea of Sam floating in space as after workshopping with the cast the notion of exploring the planets and stars has come up frequently. However one of the bigest downfalls we have faced is weightlessness and how to depict this convinvcingly on stage. Then we has an idea why not bring the stars to Sam? This idea wouldn’t have worked if the show hasn’t been set in an imaginary world but because ‘in dreams we enter a world that is entirely our own’ (Rowling, 1999). The idea of the planets coming to Sam doesn’t seem so far fetched. This is where the lantern sequence came in. We decided to use the ensemble as the stars and bring them to Sam, using handheld lighting to representthese stars.

The idea also stemmed from speaking to Dom (Propsand set) as in her original set design she had discussed the idea of having planets hanging from the grid to give the illusion of the solar system. In previous production meetings before the planets were vetoed we discussed the idea of using paper lanterns and spray painting them. This is how the lights for the lantern sequence came to fruition.

Rowling, J.K.(1999) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, London: Bloomsbury

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