Performer’s Blog / Blog Perfformiwr: The Good Earth

The Good Earth, which opens in the Weston Studio on 16 April, originally started life when Fragments were chosen as one of our developing companies for our Incubator Project in 2013. Cast member Hanna Brunt talks about her experience of the Incubator process, from auditions, to the first showing at our Incubator Sharing evening back in Autumn 2013, to this next stage of development.

Dechreuodd bywyd The Good Earth, sy’n agor yn y Stiwdio Weston ar 16 Ebrill, pan ddewisiwyd Fragments fel un o’n cwmnïoedd datblygu ar gyfer ein Prosiect Deori yn 2013. Dyma aelod o’r cast Hanna Brunt, yn sgwrsio am ei phrofiad yn y broses Deori, o’r clyweliadau i’r ddau berfformiad cyntaf yn noson arbennig Deori nôl yn Hydref 2013, i gam nesaf y datblygiad.

In September 2013 I saw an audition notice for an R&D project that was to be performed at the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, as part of their Incubator project. The company was called Fragments, an international group of film and theatre makers and their new project was The Good Earth. They were looking for five, highly versatile actors, with a strong sense of play, to take part in the new production that was inspired by true events, which took place in the village of Troedrhiwgwair. Straightaway I applied and was lucky enough to be invited to take part in a group audition at the Wales Millennium Centre itself. Four days after the audition took place I received an email offering me a spot as one of the five to take part in the rehearsal and development of the piece.

With an old BBC news interview, from the villagers of Troedrhiwgwair, and other articles under our belt, we went on our way to begin developing a piece.  Inspired by true events, we wanted to portray the trials and traumas faced by a small Welsh village in the Sirhowy Valley, who were all asked to leave their homes as the council thought that the mountain they had lived under for decades was dangerous. 

Using the characters from the news report as an aid, we began brainstorming character traits and features we thought would best symbolize the villagers.  We then went on to create characters and relationships we felt the audience could believe and empathise with. Through improvisation we found ourselves creating scenes and discovering aspects of characters that we could expand upon, which helped to keep the rehearsals moving forward.  

The process was fantastic, but at times very difficult, as we would really go in depth on a character and realize it would not work. At this point we would have to leave all the work we had done on certain aspects to the side and start again. However, each new character brought about exciting new discoveries; whether or not we went on to use the character in the final piece.

Once we had discovered and developed characters we believed were strong enough to convey the emotions and portray the raw truth of feeling, we moved on to creating scenes that would tell the stories of our villagers. We wanted to produce a piece that conveyed a strong message of the struggles of a village who were being asked to leave their family homes by a council who could offer no real proof for the apparent danger they were in.

Being able to do this in the Wales Millennium Centre, in similar spaces to the one we would be performing in, was unbelievable. It was amazing to be able to develop ideas and bring a production to life in such a busy theatre environment, being surrounded by so many other artists, such as the Welsh National Opera, Hijinx Theatre and even Dame Edna (the show that was in the Donald Gordon Theatre at the time). The atmosphere was electric and the facilities were next to none. The staff were always friendly and welcoming and the producers in charge of the Incubator project were always popping in and out of rehearsals to show their support and see how things were going on. 

After our two week rehearsal and development period we moved into the Weston Studio, the performance space, where we were now in the hands of the Technical staff. From start to finish they were very professional and helpful, bowing to our every lighting and technical need. Their support was integral in the final stages of the piece and their collaboration with us, especially with our director’s ideas, helped form an atmospheric setting for our piece.

To have been able to rehearse, develop ideas and perform at the Wales Millennium Centre was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and an opportunity I am pleased to have the chance to do again. 

Our project from the Incubator sharing has been accepted to receive funding from the Arts Council of Wales with support from the Wales Millennium Centre, National Lottery and RCT Cultural Services. We will be rehearsing and developing for a further 15 days before performing in the Weston Studio in April.

By Hanna Brunt, cast member.

See The Good Earth in the Weston Studio on 16 & 17 April, 8pm.

Incubator is a platform for artists and companies to develop new work in partnership with Wales Millennium Centre. The project is open for applications throughout the year from artists and companies with an idea that they would like to develop further. Click here to find out more about how you can get involved, or email our producer Fern: fern.george@wmc.org.uk

Dewch i fwynhau The Good Earth yn y Stiwdio Weston ar 16 ac 17 Ebrill am 8pm.

Mae Deori yn llwyfan i artistiaid a chwmnïau ddatblygu gwaith newydd mewn partneriaeth â Chanolfan Mileniwm Cymru. Mae’n bosibl gwneud cais i’r prosiect trwy gydol y flwyddyn ac mae’n agored i gwmnïau sydd â syniad yr hoffent ei ddatblygu ymhellach. I ddysgu mwy am sut allwch chi gymryd rhan a bod yn un o gwmnïau Deori, anfonwch e-bost at at ein cynhyrchydd fern.george@wmc.org.uk

Performer’s Blog / Blog Perfformiwr: It’s Dark Outside

Arielle Gray, creator of and performer in It’s Dark Outside, shares a little about the process behind the show, from playing with puppets and the creative uses of puppet stuffing, to researching dementia. Catch It’s Dark Outside in the Weston Studio on 6 April, 7.30pm. 

Dyma Arielle Gray, crëwr a pherfformiwr yn It’s Dark Outside, yn rhannu’r broses â ni o greu’r sioe, gan chwarae â phypedau a’r gwaith ymchwil i ddementia. Bydd It’s Dark Outside yn ein Stiwdio Weston ar 6 Ebrill, 7.30pm

 

 

Hi everyone!

We have just started our UK tour of It’s Dark Outside and we are already enjoying the beautiful green countryside, the old buildings and the mist! The great thing about touring here (being from Australia) is how close everything is. We can go from one town to another every single day (in our van, driven by the lovely Oz). It’s all so close! When we tour in Australia, it’s a flight or a fairly hefty drive to get from one place to another.

It’s Dark Outside is a theatre show commissioned by Perth Theatre Company created and performed by Tim Watts, Chris Isaacs and myself. It also has a beautiful original score by the incredibly talented Rachael Dease. I’m going to write a little something about the process we went through to create it!
 

We started with the idea of wildness. In the beginning we were playing with all sorts of things: gorillas, the Wild West, a tarzan-esque child, an old man. Some ideas stayed, some didn’t. When we generate content for the shows we do it by getting into a space, bringing a whole bunch of stuff and playing. We had gorilla puppets, cowboy boots, we made a crude wild boy puppet, and we got an old man mask off the Internet, heaps of stuff.

Eventually we realised we were creating two different storylines, one was the gorilla and the wild boy and the other was the Wild West and the old man. We chose the old man.

We had been looking into dementia and the effects it had on sufferers and we came across a fascinating phenomenon called ‘sundowners syndrome’. Boiled down: As the sun sets (and shadows lengthen) Alzheimer’s patients can become more agitated and the instances of wandering increase. The idea that someone who has lost parts of themselves could have this natural urge to escape into the world (wild) at sunset really captured our imagination. It became our central image (which the whole show revolves around): An old man wanders into the wild at sunset.

From there we played with shadows, the old man, westerns, a tent and much more. One day, we were in the middle of making an old man puppet body and there was some stuffing in the space. We often end up playing with pretty much anything that’s in the space. So lo and behold the stuffing ended up in the show, but not only that, it ended up being a fairly central image. An image for thoughts, memories and all that came with that.

From the stage where we generate ideas and play with things we moved onto the editing stage. This is where we string the ideas together into a narrative and find ways to transition from one scene to another. Throughout the whole process we also have consistent showings, where we show scenes and ideas to a variety of people (other theatre-makers, Tim’s parents, friends, sometimes general public) and get feedback. Showings give you several gifts.

1.      You aren’t precious about ideas, images or scenes that you are creating.

2.      You get to constantly check what the audience is reading from the ideas meaning you know exactly what the show is saying.

3.      You know if something is a bit naff!

4.      Sometimes audience give you new ideas of what direction something should go in.

Eventually we had the show and have now done several seasons around the world and in our hometown of Perth in Western Australia. We still chat to audiences after the show and have made tweaks based on feedback we have received and also little changes based on things we weren’t 100% happy with.

If you do come and see the show, please come say hi afterwards, we’d love to hear what you think!

Arielle

Don’t miss It’s Dark Outside, showing in the Weston Studio on 6 April, 7.30pm. Click here for full details and to book.

 

Peidiwch â cholli It’s Dark Outside, sydd yn ein Stiwdio Weston ar 6 Ebrill am 7.30pm. Cliciwch yma am ragor o wybodaeth ac i archebu eich tocynnau.