On the 24th of January we all met for the first time to discuss initial ideas for our show. We were all daunted but excited at the thought of devising and creating an hour-long piece of theatre for the first time.
Initial ideas (Chatterway, 2017)
We began by discussing our common interests, in order to find out what our show could be about. It was quickly discovered that we were all interested in theatre that can speak to everybody, in other words theatre that deals with the ‘little people’ and everyday problems faced by us all. With this in mind we went on to brainstorm ideas for the name of our theatre company. This turned out to be much more challenging than expected, as so many names are already used by other theatre companies. For example, we were particularly disappointed to discover that the name ‘Common Thread’ was already in use by another company
Yet, after playing some games and devising exercises, the name ‘Fragment’ was suggested. We all instantly loved this name as it fit perfectly with our newly discovered ideology – that of dealing with fragments of the everyday persons life and the daily challenges that they face.
Devising (Nixon, 2017)
Next came a chat about production roles and allocating jobs, of which I took on the role of props manager. Once this was agreed we carried on discussing, in more depth, the idea of the ‘little person’. We talked about our own insecurities and worries with all the trouble currently going on in the world, from Trump, to Brexit to the division and hatred within our society and more. Yet, despite this topical conversation, we decided that we didn’t want to do a piece of theatre focusing specifically on politics. This was due to the problem that such theatre may not be for everybody, especially as we all hear and see so much of such topics already in the mainstream media. We also didn’t want our production to be so directly related to the real world, instead more subtly demonstrating the everyday problems faced by individuals.
This therefore led us onto the idea of escapism, as we started to talk about how we all sometimes just want to ‘get away from it all’, such as by putting on a song or watching a good TV show. It soon became apparent that not only us, but everyone needs their own escape, a place to simply and safely ‘get away’. We then further discussed how with all of the current affairs in the world, as well as everyone’s own personal issues we can all at times feel isolated from society. This idea was also particularly fitting for our chosen name Fragment, meaning ‘An isolated or incomplete part of something’ (Oxforddictionaries.com, 2017).
Citations
Oxforddictionaries.com. (2017) Definition of Fragment. [online] Available from: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/fragment [accessed 25 January].
Chatterway, A. (2017) Initial Ideas.
Nixon, E. (2017) Devising.
