DYCP #4

As I come to the final stage of this intensive period of professional development, find out more about what I’ve been up to below.

Extraordinary Bodies
Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of meeting Jamie Beddard (Joint Artistic Director of Diverse City) in person and observing an early rehearsal for Extraordinary Bodies’ new production Waldo’s Circus of Magic & Terror at Bristol Old Vic. The company, which is a partnership between Cirque Bijou and Diverse City, creates “a unique and magical space where diverse bodies are embraced, boundaries are broken, and inclusivity is championed”. With a team of D/deaf, disabled, and non-disabled artists, the work is supportive of everyone’s needs, and accessible to audience members with every performance being Audio Described, Captioned, and Signed. I am curious to see how access will be integrated in the show.

Taking Flight Theatre Company
I had the opportunity of travelling to Cardiff again, this time to take part in Taking Flight’s Youth Theatre sessions. With Deaf and hard of hearing participants, the sessions are led in BSL and English, with the support of interpreters and volunteers. It was helpful to see how drama games were adapted to suit the group, and that co-creation is present in planning, with young people deciding what they are interested in doing for the rest of the year. I am meeting Steph soon for a debrief and will include any relevant notes in my next (and final) blog.

Phosphoros Theatre
Phosphoros Theatre, a company who “make socially engaged performance with, for, and by refugees and asylum seekers”, brought their latest show All the beds I have slept in to Bristol. Directed by Esther Dix (who I have had the pleasure of working with on a different project), the stories presented are based on the actors’ real experiences of their journeys from their homelands to seek asylum in the UK. Some of the team led workshops with Borderlands, a Bristol-based charity supporting refugees and asylum seekers, and the participants had the opportunity to be in two sections of the show. Shadowing the workshops and rehearsal was extremely useful and relevant to my research, along with a meeting with Esther where we discussed ethics and the role of the director. Working with trained and inexperienced actors is not dissimilar, but when they are telling personal stories, consent is key. Having a script helps prevent performers from sharing something they are not comfortable with, which can happen if a story is told ad-lib. They are able to change any words in advance, and the separation that is created acts as protection. We also discussed that if we decide to use different languages on stage, it is important to understand why we are doing it.

The Wall
Last October, I found an audition call out for actors who speak different languages and have lived experience or a family history of migration for a piece of documentary theatre. I immediately got in touch asking if I could shadow some of the R&D and rehearsals. Juan Ayala, the director, was incredibly generous and I was able to be present for most of the process. As someone who is interested in different languages being spoken on stage, personal stories, translation, liveness, and issues of borders and migration, this project aligned brilliantly with the work I want to make. The show, different every night, had 3 performances, of which I attended 2. Titled The Wall, the piece was a real time, unscripted conversation between two performers who cannot travel due to borders, laws and other barriers, and who meet live — for the first time — on screen. I took a lot from being part of it, and it made me reflect on the importance of how personal stories are framed and of giving people agency as to what they want to share.

acta Elevate
acta’s Elevate scheme, which I have been attending since November, is sadly coming to an end. In the last couple of sessions, we spoke about engaging communities, when, how, and potential barriers, and had a practice exchange where people brought ideas and thoughts to try out and discuss. This has been a fruitful space for sharing, problem-solving, and receiving feedback and advice. We touched on marketing and how to measure word of mouth and in-person conversations for funders, perhaps by recording the number of conversations and the amount of time they took. This is something I had been thinking about, especially as I started to promote my workshops (more on that below). Hearing about acta’s experience in previous projects has been extremely interesting, especially their work with migrants. The subject of not paying performers came up in a conversation. Community theatre is based on the conviction that what participants get from it is worth their time and commitment. But who are we to affirm this? On the other hand, projects are usually flexible without much commitment being required, which may suit many people better. However, we as facilitators often go through very positive, transformative experiences while also being paid. If performers are paid, is it no longer considered community theatre? (I have no answers!)

Theatre & Performance Workshops for Migrant Women
As part of my DYCP, I am running 4 workshops to test, research and develop some of my ideas. I have learnt a lot in the process of organising these, and feel better equipped for when I do it again in the future. One of the things I learnt is that promoting takes time. Going to different groups and drop-ins, speaking to people and building trust is essential. A flyer can be easily ignored or misinterpreted when people don’t know you and your intentions, especially in workshops that invite migrants to share their personal experiences.

I ran the first workshop last week, in which we all got to know each other and used British stereotypes to explore what we find difficult here (an idea I got from an acta session). We have 3 more sessions so there is still time to join — flyer below!

A Restless Art
I am finding it tricky to find the time to catch up on reading, but I did manage to finish François Matarasso’s book A Restless Art: How participation won, and why it matters. This is an essential read for anyone interested in participatory art, including its ethics, history and lots of examples from around Europe. Matarasso argues that “[…] full, free and equal participation in cultural life is both a human right and a path towards a more just and democratic society” (Matarasso, 2019:20). He writes about the balance between process and product, explaining that it is not true that community artists do not care about the resulting art work. Although, of course, there is artistic value in the process, even when there isn’t a final product.

As with intentions, the balance [between process and product] shifts between and within projects. It is affected by the people involved, the situation, the work they have set out to create, the expectations of others and much else. And it shifts, as a tightrope walker shifts their weight, responding to what is happening and how people feel about it. But the best work never sacrifices one for the other. Process and product are yin and yang in participatory art, stable only in mutual dependency. (Matarasso, 2019:97)

There is still “the idea that art can have a social or an aesthetic purpose but not both” (Matarasso, 2019:148). The author goes on to question with what standards we judge a piece of theatre. Who decides what the scale of “good” or “bad” is? A professional actor may have skill and expertise, but that will never outshine the authenticity of lived experience. Matarasso suggests five elements to consider in assessing an art work: Craft, Originality, Ambition, Resonance, and Feeling. I was particularly interested in reading about the question of whether to pay performers or not, and the power imbalances in participatory arts. Funding opportunities often make it difficult to be able to engage people at every step of the way. However, co-creation is key to democratisation, and participatory artists shouldn’t have all the answers, but instead be open to collaboration. “Sometimes, saying that you don’t know what to do is all that is needed to allow someone else to suggest an idea.” (Matarasso, 2019:115)

Matarasso distinguishes participatory art from community art. The work I want to make sits somewhere in the middle as contemporary art that has artistic value, but where this value is achieved through co-creation.

Participatory Arts with Young Refugees
I found a 2009 publication by Oval House Theatre of six essays about Participatory Arts with Young Refugees. Although a little dated, it provides interesting case studies and thoughts on ethics.

Refugees continued to be understood according to their ‘refugee-ness’ rather than all the other things that make them a person. They become marked by their experiences as a refugee and known for that part of who they are above all others. The media — and the public curiosity it claims to satisfy — has contributed to this problem, by focusing in on ‘pain and suffering’. (Oval House Theatre, 2009:7)

How can participatory arts help “progress the broader asylum debate”? How can we provide a platform for people to “represent themselves as they want to be seen or heard”, rather than being “defined by their immigration status”? (Oval House Theatre, 2009:8) We can make “a clear choice not to focus on ‘refugeeness’” (Oval House Theatre, 2009:36), instead focussing on what people have to offer. By concentrating on the present or future, metaphor, symbolism and folk tale, we can protect participants from accessing potentially painful memories. Long-term commitment is invaluable, and always so important to consider an exit strategy.

Other Research
I finally had the chance of listening to The Bristolian Refugee podcast by Sam Sayer, which includes interviews with refugees living in Bristol and explores the feeling of belonging in the city. Some interesting topics came up around refugee as an identity, home, family, and how to keep one’s own culture when living somewhere else. I also found some quizzes created by Refugee Action to test what you know about refugees in the UK, as well as one “designed to give you a sense of some of the questions that have come up in real Home Office asylum interviews.”

I have been following Touretteshero’s work for a while and recently came across their website, which I highly recommend for some very informative and humorous reads, and to find out more about Tourettes: www.touretteshero.com

Meetings
I have continued to have meetings with industry professionals, such as Maria Schejbal from Teatr Grodzki, a company in Poland working with people who experience barriers in the access to the Arts. Maria spoke about artistic ambition, which is sometimes neglected in community theatre, creating “suitable” spaces (as opposed to “safe”) and enabling participants to positively surprise themselves. I also met with Maria Aberg from Projekt Europa, who I have worked with before and gave me some insights on engaging local migrant communities, especially related to their production Let Your Hands Sing in the Silence. With Jenny Sealey from Graeae Theatre Company, I spoke about integrated access, creating theatre with “non-professionals”, intersectionality and using audio description creatively. I have just purchased their book Reasons to be Graeae: A Work In Progress so I can learn more. I had an enlightening session with Theatre Bristol, who helped me consider next steps and funding avenues. It was interesting to discuss ethics with ice&fire, a theatre company exploring human rights stories through performance, as I have been reflecting on why making work about migration is important.

I am starting to meet with organisations based in the South West to discuss potential opportunities and collaborations. I recently met with Take Art who deliver a diverse range of creative projects in Somerset, including a Rural Touring scheme.

Audio Description in Theatre
Another meeting I had was with Charlotte Whiten, and there was so much to say that we could have spoken for many hours. Charlotte is also finishing a DYCP and has been doing extensive research around Audio Description (AD), which I learnt is a hidden, often ignored service. When integrated, AD can be covert (within dialogue or sound effects) or overt (when a character is created for the purpose). Most commonly, AD is separate from the piece and accessed via headphones. It is urgent to deconstruct the prevalent “all or nothing” thinking when it comes to AD — people think that they either have to do it all, or do nothing. This is not true. There are small elements we can add to make a show more accessible, for example having an audio introduction available, with details about set, character, props, costumes and practical information (times, venue, access, etc.). This should be provided as an audio file and a large print PDF on the website page where the show is promoted. Some productions might not even necessarily require Through Description, with introductory notes being sufficient. It is so important to demystify access. Charlotte mentioned people could provide an audio-described flyer as a short video, which is something I could easily have done for my workshops, as I did with the different languages. This, and any important information, should be at the top of a website page, so people who use screen readers don’t have to listen to everything else first. We briefly spoke about the importance of representation of voice, and character descriptions coming from the actors and how they want to be described.

Attending Performances
I attended Haunting Ashton Court’s second event, An Evening of Performance, which showcased creative responses to archives, made by young people. It was great to learn more about this project which was set up by individual artists rather than a large organisation. Whilst in Cardiff shadowing Taking Flight youth sessions, I got to see Jo Fong’s How Shall We Begin Again? at Wales Millennium Centre. Recommended to me by Jonny Cotsen, who was one of the performers, this was an 8-hour durational piece and I wish I was able to be there for longer. With a large cast made up of professional dancers and people who like to dance, each had their moment on stage to speak to the audience, dance to their favourite song, or simply just be. I found its simplicity very powerful.

Tobacco Factory Theatres presented SPARK, their annual festival of exciting new performances by early career artists. Even though I thought improvements were needed in their approach to trigger warnings, I got to see some great pieces and met other South West creatives. Finally, I attended an online Arts for Social Change Showcase by Collective Encounters, which introduced me to a range of projects and people who make participatory art all over the country.