CASE FILE #3 RESULT FROM THE MAKING PROCESS – “SORRY SPENCER”
WHAT WE DID – Fitted the images into our conceptual framework – example: we used interrogation as a strategic means and theatrical tool to bare testimony to the event of Spencer Perceval’s death.
James donned the role of – Spencer (politician that moonlights as a disco dancer)
Ashley starred as – The Chief Inspector in the murder of…
Josh portrayed – John.
A short memoir of what one of our images resulted in…
I would like to explain one image in particular that shifted the style of the piece. Early on in the process we were having a conversation, drawing parallels from when Spencer Perceval was assassinated, to 2019, where now Theresa May is our Prime Minister. I didn’t go into much detail about the state of our country because it quite frankly frustrates me that wherever I go, or whatever I hear at the moment is about how terrible a state our country is in. Moreover, I spoke about a particular moment in October 2018. In October, Theresa May danced her way on stage to ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’ at a conference (see bibliography for video), to answer to and silence her critics on her tactics as Prime Minister. For me I think this backfired. I said to my peers that this was really quite a ridiculous publicity stunt acting like a complete fool whilst our country is in a weak state of affairs, but it offered an opportunity. As I discussed this, we came to the conclusion of creating images around her clunky and embarrassing dance moves. I felt the need to mention us creating this image in particular because I felt it changed the tide of our process.
“Perhaps it is a question of how much risk a company is prepared to take in its work, or simply of being clear on a starting point that still allows the freedom to change direction within the devising process.” Oddey (2015;104)
This was one of many from our catalogue of images which we developed through the process, but this image along with numerous others didn’t have direct links to the assassination of Spencer Perceval. We aimed to create images which we after thoughts from watching programmes, reading books and having general conversations. The most interesting part of the process for me was finding the link from the image we created to tie in with telling our version of Spencer Perceval’s assassination. This tended to create turning points in the process where instead of having a compilation of images, we had skits/sections of performance which we could endlessly develop and combine with other moments to create our commission. To conclude with the Theresa May story, if I didn’t feel the urge to have that conversation and bring it into our ‘crime world’, we wouldn’t have had one of our performers playing a version of Spencer Perceval that was a politician that moonlighted as a disco dancer.
“It is certainly about trusting a process that provides enough opportunity and space all the way through, which is often frightening, but is also at the core of being an artist and making art.” Oddey (2015;104)
That sole idea of playing around with Theresa Mays dancing resulted in the performance having this character which I believe dictated what the performance became. This was a surprising turn of events within our process but it dictated what the performance became, at it was a pleasant surprise. We didn’t intend for this for one of our performance, but it was a result of us trusting a process we weren’t used to working in. This moment of the process for me was the birthing moment of “we are the Professional Northerners”.
A brief summary of “Sorry Spencer”
“Sorry Spencer” is a postdramatic performance contemporarily responding to the assassination of Spencer Perceval. Comprised of different scenes, as actors, performers, northerners and characters we explored three characters and told their versions of the murder of Perceval which took place in 1812. During the piece, as a collective we interrogated the process by fostering roles within roles. For example: My character John was the murderer. Whilst I played the murderer, I was performing a heightened me, and performing the character John. Separating myself from John helped me capture what I think he was probably like. It was a good way of reminding me that I am trying to portray a real person who committed murder. In Heddon and Milling’s Devising Performance, theatre company The Special Guests describe their devising process:
“We begin making work by haphazardly playing around with text, improvisation, discarded diaries, song lyrics, second-hand shoes, ill-fitting suits and anything else we can lay our hands on. Sifting through a mass of half-formed ideas and flashes of inspiration a performance text is gradually mapped out…” Heddon and Milling (2006;193)
This quote captures to an extent how we operated as a collective. We improvised. We fooled around. We decided to do a piece on true crime, then one day we were in a space filled with objects such as: notepads, pens reading glasses, sandwich bags, string, chalk, gloves, brush and talcum powder. We played around with objects then half-formed images had soundtracks, text, improvised text, costumes, interviews and games. We created our own messy little world for our performance on crime and punishment. I never thought that the commission would turn out the way it did but it was a result of constantly making and adapting images without thinking about the end result.
SEE CASE FILE #4 FOR WE ARE THE PROFESSIONAL NORTHERNERS…