Re-hashing?
Post written by: Erin Walcon
Re-entry can be difficult. It has its own challenges.
The artistic team working on You, Me and My Voice last worked together over a year ago. In May 2018, Hugh Malyon, Jen Noice, Sophie Amos, Steve Sowden and myself assembled to develop the first stages of this performance piece. At the time, it began as a glimmer of an idea within Doorstep Youth Theatre rehearsals, and was later finessed and developed as Hugh’s Final Major Project at South Devon College with Jade Campbell and Dan Armstrong joining as performers.
Image of Jade Campbell and Dan Armstrong performing alongside Hugh during last years' production
The structures and requirements of the Final Major Project coursework were helpful ones, and provided us with useful deadlines and templates and guidance which led the piece to its final Scratch performances for public audiences at South Devon College in May & June 2018.
Cue a long pause – a holding breath. (Bated breath, even, waiting to hear about a series of funding applications to support he piece on its next stage of development.)
Now, thanks to funding from Arts Council England, the next stage of life can begin.
It’s a different process, picking up something which has already been scratched. It’s not the same thing as sitting down to the blank page or the empty rehearsal studio. Having material already generated can be a gift (sometimes) but it’s a laden one.
Which bits worked, which ones need to be utterly discarded? Did we all really like the tape recorder girlfriend? How do we hook up the ‘ties that bind’ hanging lines to the wheelchair at the end with 2 less performers? Does Steve get to speak this time or not? Does Sophie the technician become more of a central character, rather than just popping her head out as she did before? Do we cut up the script with scissors, hit the delete button, or just tweak what we’ve got?
The original premise for the first iteration of the show was that of a lecture. Hugh, as a professor,giving a talk on the concept of Voice. It worked then. We’re not totally convinced it will work now. We know that we’re rehearsing this time with 2 less performers – so now the piece is ostensibly a one man show.We aren’t sure ‘The Talker’ character is possible in that format –something that was integral to the show in the early scratch stages. Weare touring the show, so the scenic design of many hanging strings might not be feasible or possible. These all feel like fairly major things to be tweaking.
So, in our second R&D meeting, we brought out the scissors and prepared to cut up the script into strips, to play around with re-ordering and eliminating. But after several hours of discussion between Jen and Hugh and Steve and myself, we’ve realised that the content of the original piece was pretty sound. We think we might want to change the overall premise (haha, just that tiny thing) –we think we might try out the idea that the new premise is Hugh is talking about the last version of the show, rather than giving a lecture on Voice.
But many things from the scratch are on the‘Keepsies’ list: the timelines, the heartline, the romance scenes with the tape recorder, the quietness of Steve the musician, the friendship,the ending, the musical sections. We suspect we might be keeping more than we thought. That’s exciting – and a bit scary. Sometimes it’s easier to start over, or to begin with the blank page. Picking up something that’s mostly worked before is a responsibility.
We think there’s something under-explored here about being ‘An Expert’ – or about expertise and who has it and who is seen as having it. We think there may be something juicy and pithy to ask about binary opposition –i.e. I’m right and you’re wrong, or something about listening. It feels like
the world has become more binary and less good at listening over the last year. And ultimately, a piece of theatre about Voice really has to also be about listening – even when we might not agree with what is being said. So these areas deserve some play-time.
We have our last R&D this week and then we’re into rehearsals – that’s where the fun begins and we get to dabble with the new questions and check in on whether the old questions still feel urgent and important.We’ll let you know how that goes