Starting out

From the very start of our devising process, we knew that as a company we wanted to create a piece of theatre that utilised our bodies and movement as a way to show a narrative, as opposed to a show that relied on text and dialogue to show a story. We had all previously performed in shows that were exclusively physical, and so the task of deciding what type of performance to create was a quick and simple one. Although the definition of physical theatre varies, the notion of using the performers bodies to show a narrative is consistent throughout.

With the decision to go down the route of a more physicalised performance came the obvious realisation that our production would be completely devised from scratch, taking only inspiration from specific stimulus, not full text. We are already finding a lot of documents and items that could help us devise movements and sequences to create a final production, and this has been made easier by the idea of grounding our piece in the space race. In a rehearsal this week, the concept of using space as a theme was raised and agreed on by our whole company unanimously. From here on out, a piece of physical theatre revolving around the space race is our goal, with these two ideas firmly set in stone.

Job roles were also assigned this week, which has enabled us to start working individually on certain aspects of the show from an early stage. With a previous knowledge of music production and an interest in music, I offered myself as sound designer, and was given the role. It is obvious that sound and music will play a big part in creating a specific mood and tone for the piece, especially as the production will be stylised, with minimal script or dialogue. Lyn Gardner wrote in a piece for The Guardian that ‘the perfectly placed piece of music, the sense that theatre can be musical without being a musical, still seems to be underrated’ (The Guardian, 2008).  This is what music in theatre is about, for me especially; perfectly placed pieces of music, that don’t distract or divert attention, but rather amplify the content that is being physically produced on stage. Now that the company has decided on the theme of space, I have started looking at composers and artists that have a distinct ‘space’ sound, mainly electronic instrumental music, that we could use in our piece, and I am incredibly excited to start working on a full soundtrack for our production; I cannot wait to see what we can produce.

Inspiration for music style. Public Service Broadcasting – The Race For Space. (Music Glue, 2016)

The Devising Process

With only a few weeks until the show, our whole company has proven to be incredibly versatile and productive, meaning that we now have a full show, ready to be tweaked and fine tuned until it becomes an even better show. The devising process has been fluid, consistent and ultimately a lot of fun, due to the nature of devising a piece of physical theatre. Devising can be defined as ‘the process of making theatre that enables a group of performers to be physically and practically creative in the sharing and shaping of an original product’ (Oddey, 1994, 1), and this is especially the case when it comes to creating physical theatre, as creativity is perhaps the most important catalyst for devising interesting and captivating sequences, which are needed in a physical theatre show. Producing work has also been easier since we sat down and worked on a fully fleshed out narrative in the first few weeks of rehearsals. The theme of space has stayed, and we decided to revolve our production around an eight year old boy named Sam, who will learn about the space race throughout the show whilst the ensemble acts as his imagination, guiding him through the show. Sam has a mother, but no father, and the production will also show his experience learning this information and dealing with the notion of death and loneliness. I think our narrative works perfectly with physical theatre as a style, as imagination is inherently creative and emotive, something that physical theatre can effectively portray.

In the early stages of our devising process, we focused mainly on the historical content of the space race as a means to influence the physical work we produced. As a company, we worked on a timeline for the content of the show and decided that we would begin with the moon landing, and then watch Sam go back and learn about historical events like Sputnik and JFK’s assassination. Basing our production in the space race allowed for a lot of room to play with different ideas and physical techniques, as the there was so much content that we could use as stimulus, not to mention the fact that the space race through a child’s perspective allows for unlimited possibilities surrounding what we can put on stage.

Throughout our rehearsals so far, the notion of ‘play’ was one that helped us create stronger images and movements, and ultimately build stronger sequences based on the historical events that we previously decided on. In the devising process, ‘it’s important to play first, to improvise, then set it structurally’ (Lamden, 2000, 10), and I think this idea is one that we carried throughout our devising process; for us it was very much about playing with ideas, creating interesting sequences from these ideas, and then setting them in stone and tweaking them. For example, in one sequence we wanted a fast paced and playful scene revolving around the ensemble, acting as Sam’s imagination, attempting to entertain Sam and distract him from his rocket blueprints. This sequence was particularly fun to create, as we used this idea of ‘playing’ to construct it. Knowing that Sam is an eight year old boy, we began by playing games that children would play, such as grandma’s footsteps, which enabled us to explore alternative ideas and ultimately produce a stronger scene. The grandma’s footsteps game has actually ended up in the sequence, proving that the playful attitude to devising has been effective.

The cast engaging in a playful game. (PinPoint Theatre, 2016)

As I previously mentioned in an earlier blog, music is an important part of our production. To avoid having a soundtrack to the show that seemed out of place, I knew that we needed to use music in our devising process as well as our final show. Using music in our devising process served as an effective tool for creating interesting sequences, as it allowed us to create tighter choreography and build sequences that would work with the music, not just along side it, creating a stronger production overall. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s In Motion serves not only as an example of incredible songwriting but also an instance in which we used music to aid the devising of a scene. In one of our early rehearsals, we needed some upbeat, pumping electronic music to assist in the choreography of some stylised ‘walking’ movements, and In Motion acted as the perfect piece of music, allowing us to effectively and quickly create the sequence.

Refining the show

We are now a few days away from performing our production How I Got To The Moon And Back, and the past few weeks, although stressful, have been incredibly productive! Because of the nature of the show (a lot of physical theatre elements and ensemble work), it is imperative that we spend some time tweaking and refining specific parts of the show, and the past few weeks have allowed for us to do just that. Physical theatre aims to ‘confront the continuing hegemony of a theatre defined by its literary and verbal dimensions’ (Murray and Keefe, 2007, 6), and when a performance style is so reliant on non-literary elements, if ensemble work and tiny details are not fully rehearsed and slick, the final result can be underwhelming. We’ve spent a lot of time refining minute details that, although time consuming, will help us to push our performance to the next level. For example, we spent a few rehearsals working on facial expressions in scenes and focus points in order to fully flesh out the notion of an ensemble. We knew that it was these tiny details that an audience would pick up on, maybe even subconsciously, and would make the show more satisfying to watch.

As sound designer, I have been working closely with our director and assistant director from the start to establish a coherent and consistent style of music, although it was ultimately my decision what music was used. The past few weeks of refining the show have allowed me to work on this soundtrack to the show, and work out which pieces of music I can keep, and which pieces I can change. The fact that the devising process never really ends until the actual production means that I have had to spend a lot of time constantly tweaking the timings of certain songs and transitions in order to ensure that specific musical beats are hitting the right moments of action on stage. This meant looping certain tracks, or, when it came to the tracks that I had composed and produced myself, going into the Garageband files and tweaking the arrangements to lengthen the tracks without loosing the rhythm of the original version, as is sometimes the case with looping tracks.

A small section of the original music created and extended for the final scene. (Wilson, 2016)

The final scene has been a particular pain musically, as I needed a piece of music that would hit three different emotional changes in the scene but also have enough consistency as to not distract the audience. I played with the idea of creating an original piece of music, but over this past few weeks we have extended the last scene to almost ten minutes, so I decided to instead merge two existing tracks with a third original piece of music. If it wasn’t for this period of refining the show, we probably wouldn’t have ended up with such a poignant ending to the show, both musically and physically. I am incredibly proud of the state of the show at the moment, and am confident that the music is the perfect addition to the movements on stage, which will hopefully combine to create a truly powerful piece of physical theatre.

Looking back

Last night we finally got to perform How I Got To The Moon And Back, and I could not be happier with how the show went. I am so proud of myself, but more so the company as a whole, for creating what I think was a professional, powerful piece of physical theatre that captivated the audience from start to finish. As a performer, I feel like the ensemble work we did, and the hours of intense rehearsal that we all put into creating the physical theatre sequences especially, meant that our final performance was slick and ultimately filled with character. There were a few points specifically where the tech worked perfectly with what was happening on stage, and these moments only amplified the sense of ensemble work and tight choreography. For example, in the book stealing ‘JFK’ sequence, a moment at the front of the stage in which the ensemble comforted Sam was amplified by the change in pace of music coming at the same point as a hand touch from the ensemble. Moments like this gave our production a polished feel, and helped me as a performer become more engrossed in the role I was playing.

Book stealing sequence. (Crowe, 2016)

The performance was not without it’s faults though. There were a few moments where certain simultaneous movements that we had worked on were slightly out of time, most noticeably in moments of unison from the ensemble closing box lids and turning with the lights in the light sequence. I think these moments were overshadowed by the parts of the show that went perfectly however, which to me was most of the show.

As sound designer, I am particularly pleased with how the music worked with the action on stage, and I feel as though the audience’s emotional response to the story presented to them was heightened by the music that accompanied it. As human beings, ‘“We have a very deep understanding of what music is doing, and it’s very physical”’ (BBC, 2013), and I think this physical reaction to music was used to our advantage in our performance, particularly in the final scene, where I feel the simple piano melody and slow crescendo of synths and drums added to the crescendo of the performance finale as a whole.

Being in a theatre company has shown me the importance of communication within a group and has helped me develop my skills as a physical performer as well as a sound designer. The production was a huge success, and has only left me excited for what Pinpoint Theatre will go on to produce in the future.

Works Cited:

BBC (2013) How do film-makers manipulate our emotions with music? [online] London: BBC. Available from http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/0/24083243 [Accessed 23 May 2016].

Crowe, P. (2016) How I Got To The Moon And Back. Lincoln University. [online] Flickr. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/61839232@N02/26899143760/in/album-72157668377551582/ [Accessed 24 May 2016].

Lamden, G. (2000) Devising: A Handbook for Drama and Theatre Students. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

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

Music Glue (2016) Public Service Broadcasting. [online] Music Glue. Available from https://www.musicglue.com/public-service-broadcasting-usa/ [Accessed 3 March 2016].

Oddey, A. (1994) Devising Theatre: A Practical and Theoretical Handbook. London and New York: Routledge.

PinPoint Theatre (2016) Warm up games. [Facebook] 24 April. Available from https://www.facebook.com/PinPointTheatreCompany/photos/pb.1696701420543201.-2207520000.1464098734./1724112777802065/?type=3&theater [Accessed 25 April 2016].

The Guardian (2008) Music deserves a bigger role in the theatre. [online] London: The Guardian. Available from http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2008/dec/05/theatre-music-sound-design [Accessed 20 February 2016].

Wilson, N. (2016) A small section of the original music created and extended for the final scene. Nick Wilson.

With only a few weeks until the show, our whole company has proven to be incredibly versatile and productive, meaning that we now have a full show, ready to be tweaked and fine tuned until it becomes an even better show. The devising process has been fluid, consistent and ultimately a lot of fun, due to the nature of devising a piece of physical theatre. Devising can be defined as ‘the process of making theatre that enables a group of performers to be physically and practically creative in the sharing and shaping of an original product’ (Oddey, 1994, 1), and this is especially the case when it comes to creating physical theatre, as creativity is perhaps the most important catalyst for devising interesting and captivating sequences, which are needed in a physical theatre show. Producing work has also been easier since we sat down and worked on a fully fleshed out narrative in the first few weeks of rehearsals. The theme of space has stayed, and we decided to revolve our production around an eight year old boy named Sam, who will learn about the space race throughout the show whilst the ensemble acts as his imagination, guiding him through the show. Sam has a mother, but no father, and the production will also show his experience learning this information and dealing with the notion of death and loneliness. I think our narrative works perfectly with physical theatre as a style, as imagination is inherently creative and emotive, something that physical theatre can effectively portray.

In the early stages of our devising process, we focused mainly on the historical content of the space race as a means to influence the physical work we produced. As a company, we worked on a timeline for the content of the show and decided that we would begin with the moon landing, and then watch Sam go back and learn about historical events like Sputnik and JFK’s assassination. Basing our production in the space race allowed for a lot of room to play with different ideas and physical techniques, as the there was so much content that we could use as stimulus, not to mention the fact that the space race through a child’s perspective allows for unlimited possibilities surrounding what we can put on stage.

Throughout our rehearsals so far, the notion of ‘play’ was one that helped us create stronger images and movements, and ultimately build stronger sequences based on the historical events that we previously decided on. In the devising process, ‘it’s important to play first, to improvise, then set it structurally’ (Lamden, 2000, 10), and I think this idea is one that we carried throughout our devising process; for us it was very much about playing with ideas, creating interesting sequences from these ideas, and then setting them in stone and tweaking them. For example, in one sequence we wanted a fast paced and playful scene revolving around the ensemble, acting as Sam’s imagination, attempting to entertain Sam and distract him from his rocket blueprints. This sequence was particularly fun to create, as we used this idea of ‘playing’ to construct it. Knowing that Sam is an eight year old boy, we began by playing games that children would play, such as grandma’s footsteps, which enabled us to explore alternative ideas and ultimately produce a stronger scene. The grandma’s footsteps game has actually ended up in the sequence, proving that the playful attitude to devising has been effective.

The cast engaging in a playful game. (PinPoint Theatre, 2016)

As I previously mentioned in an earlier blog, music is an important part of our production. To avoid having a soundtrack to the show that seemed out of place, I knew that we needed to use music in our devising process as well as our final show. Using music in our devising process served as an effective tool for creating interesting sequences, as it allowed us to create tighter choreography and build sequences that would work with the music, not just along side it, creating a stronger production overall. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s In Motion serves not only as an example of incredible songwriting but also an instance in which we used music to aid the devising of a scene. In one of our early rehearsals, we needed some upbeat, pumping electronic music to assist in the choreography of some stylised ‘walking’ movements, and In Motion acted as the perfect piece of music, allowing us to effectively and quickly create the sequence.

Lamden, G. (2000) Devising: A Handbook for Drama and Theatre Students. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

Oddey, A. (1994) Devising Theatre: A Practical and Theoretical Handbook. London and New York: Routledge.

PinPoint Theatre (2016) Warm up games. [Facebook] 24 April. Available from https://www.facebook.com/PinPointTheatreCompany/photos/pb.1696701420543201.-2207520000.1464098734./1724112777802065/?type=3&theater [Accessed 25 April 2016].

From the very start of our devising process, we knew that we wanted to create a piece of theatre that utilised our bodies and movement as a way to show a story, as opposed to a reliance on text and dialogue. As sound designer, it was obvious to me that this meant sound and music would play a big part in creating a specific mood and tone for the piece. As a company, we have decided on the theme of the space race as a starting point for devising, and so I have started looking at composers and artists that have a distinct ‘space’ sound, mainly electronic instrumental music, that we could use in our piece.

Lyn Gardner wrote in a piece for The Guardian that ‘the perfectly placed piece of music, the sense that theatre can be musical without being a musical, still seems to be underrated’ (The Guardian, 2008).  This is what music in theatre is about, for me especially; perfectly placed pieces of music, that don’t distract or divert attention, but rather amplify the content that is being physically produced on stage. The best moments of sound and music in theatre, like in film, are when you don’t notice the music being played, as it is accompanying what you are seeing instead of trying to be its own thing, so the audio and visual experiences merge into one. This is when music can truly heighten the senses of an audience, rather than distract from the action.

This is a notion that I want to carry throughout our piece as sound designer. As a starting point, I have been looking at soundtracks from films that I think are particularly poignant but at the same time subtle enough as not to distract from the action of the film. Stand out soundtracks for me include Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s Gone Girl and The Social Network soundtracks, as well as Daniel Pemberton’s Steve Jobs soundtrack. I think certain tracks from these may work well in our piece, particularly Remember from the Steve Jobs soundtrack, as the use of synth and electric guitar would work nicely to represent the technological side of the space race.

The Social Network album artwork. (Asbill, 2011)

I also think it would be interesting if we could use original music alongside the tracks that I will find, as it would be easier to create a recurring theme or stimulus throughout the show. For example, we could use a specific guitar riff or chord progression for certain moments in the show that would tie it together. The idea of letters throughout the show was thrown around in a recent rehearsal, so it would be nice to have a recurring theme through those, if they are used.

Asbill, M. (2011) “The Social Network” Soundtrack, A (brief) Listening Guide. [online] Millerasbill. Available from http://millerasbill.com/the-social-network-soundtrack-a-brief-listening-guide/ [Accesed 20 February 2016].

The Guardian (2008) Music deserves a bigger role in the theatre. [online] London: The Guardian. Available from http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2008/dec/05/theatre-music-sound-design [Accessed 20 February 2016].