2017 – Page 5

April 29, 2017Hannah Marie DArcy No Comments

Applying for funding with Arts Council England

Today is the day I began to put our show forward for further funding with Arts council England. This application was more of a ” see if I can do it for the future ” application.

I began researching into what it is Arts council England look for when making the decision to give funding or not with an application.

The first thing I looked into was the five ‘goals’ of the Arts council, them being:

Excellence
For everyone
Resilience and sustainability
Diversity and skills
Children and young people

The Arts council look at Art and theatre as a way of bringing together people, people from different cultures and backgrounds, and this is a matter in which our final show fully intends to explore. if successful, with the correct amount of visual evidence our Company could be eligible for funding from £1000 to £10,000. Within my Application I will 0nly be asking for £800.

If granted this money will cover Marketing Costs, Small Venue Hire, and paying accommodation for the Actors. all props have already been bought and the show itself would be extremely ‘tamed down’ for touring purposes, meaning that we would not have the elaborate lighting states as seen in the main show and the performance would have a much more ‘D.I.Y’ aesthetic.

an example being;

rental of a venue- Skipton auction mart, Yorkshire – £150 per night of venue hire – seats 353 people (price includes staff on the night)

Hire of technician- £50 per night – supplied by Skipton auction Mart

cost of Accommodation for Actors – (£400 at skiptons travel lodge- includes breakfast)

Travel for company- £100 (From Lincoln central to Skipton Station) – Including rail cards.

van hire to transfer, costume, props and ‘D.I.Y’ lighting – In kind (We know a man with a van)

meaning that are total for touring this show to the other side of the country would in total cost us £700

if we sold tickets at £7 per ticket, and worst case scenario only selling 40% of the seats available we would make £987 from ticket sales

giving us a profit of £287 overall.

working this out provides reassurance that it would taking our show to the other side of the country and having a completely different audience could actually be completely possible!

When filling out the application form, I paid close attention to the ‘cheat sheet’ supplied by the arts council website. See below image.

(D’Arcy, 2017).

I Filled in the application relating our show to the Arts council guidelines as much as possible. an Example being significantly explaining how out show is of ‘excellence’ and is for ‘every one’ and can even apply to a ‘diverse’ set of people. that being three ‘Arts council goals’ already completed.

(see below photos of me at the beginning of the application for Arts Council Funding 2017)

(D’Arcy, 2017)

The application process takes a long long time, so who knows, but Maybe Fragment theatre will be making a comeback!

watch this space!

Citations

Artscouncil.org.uk. (2017). Individuals | Arts Council England. [online] Available at: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/why-culture-matters/making-case/individuals [Accessed 20 Feb. 2017].

D’Arcy. H. (2017) application of arts council : University of Lincoln library.

April 24, 2017Roxy Jarrold No Comments

‘Lets Dance’ (Bowie, 1983)

So, I’ve decided to post a blog purely about my role as a choreographer, as it is VERY separate from my acting role in the show now. In fact, I am involved in no choreographed sequences at all, but we will get to that later.

As our show has progressed, so has the choreography, and it is very exciting to be given the chance to create some funny scenes regarding movement. A scene we’ve been working on today involves shadow work behind a sheet using a big flashlight- something I have no experience with. However, the movement behind it is very similar that of a ‘fairy tale’, so working with the shadows is just a heightened version of something I may choreograph without them. As we are going with the comedic effect throughout our piece, the use of props within this part is very poignant, as it allows us to create funny images and even scenery. The fairy tale begins with a little girl, who’s mother and father spoil her, however as she grows up she no longer has them to rely on and has to make her way in the world. This story involves the entrance of a spinster, a mother and father figure, and a troll. Organising an extra rehearsal specifically for this choreography was extremely helpful going into the next rehearsal as it only involved 4-5 bodies to create the piece.

Shadow choreography (Jarrold, 2017). Shadows with props (Jarrold, 2017).

As well as this, another scene towards the end of the show has a drag performance in it, whereby Ben is performing a caberet style drag act. Our director Joe started this scene having Ben improvise and as hilarious as it was to watch being friends with him, visually it needed some choreography in order to have a successful scene. I was really exciting to get stuck into this, as although the undertone of this scene was extremely sad, it could be fun and light hearted too. Before organising a rehearsal with Ben, I watched a few drag act routines on youtube, as my dance background doesn’t delve into drag at all. I came across ‘RuPauls drag race’ which I was able to watch on Netflix and was the inspiration behind Bens choreography. The reality show involves ‘emphasis on the survival stories of its contestants reveals how performance can be empowering’ (Betancourt, 2017). Although the choreography needed to be entertaining, our director wanted it to have a message regarding Ben’s struggle in the modern day world.

Bens scene- Ending (Jarrold,2017). Bens scene (Jarrold, 2017).

Ben and I had so much fun in rehearsal choreographing this, and having already prepared a routine this was easy to portray to him. The choreography involved Ben as a drag act, with 4 others participating and being his ‘wardrobe’. The routine came naturally to Ben, as he already had a good sense of rhythm and technique, so we were able to add lots of detail. Although this piece was comical, I was very aware of the sad undertone this scene portrays. I decided, towards the end of the routine, to have a 4 beat pause whereby ben does nothing but stare at the audience showing ‘desperation’ just before other company members rush to dress him in yet more drag attire. Watching him do this was very powerful and I believe can only get stronger in the lead up to the final performance.

Work Cited:

Betancourt, M. (2017). ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ and the Art of Self-Love. [online] The Atlantic. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/05/rupauls-drag-race-and-the-art-of-self-love/482265/ [Accessed 16 May 2017].

Bowie, D. (1983) Lets Dance.

Jarrold, R. (2017) Bens scene-ending.

Jarrold, R. (2017) Bens scene.

Jarrold, R. (2017) Shadow choreography.

Jarrold, R. (2017) Shadows with props.

April 20, 2017Benjamin Rowan No Comments

What’s a Technical Designer?

Hello, my name is Benjamin Rowan, and I am the Technical Designer for Fragment Theatre Company. My job is to design the lighting for the final production. Our final production is currently split between 4 sections: Food, Childhood, Writing and Music. I believe I am a visual learner, so I have decided to create a separate mood bored for each section of the play; “A moodboard is a visual tool that communicates our concepts and visual ideas” (Interior Design Hunter, 2015).

First things first, start from the very beginning, the beginning being the opening speech between the two narrators. I have been instructed by the director (Joseph Turner) and assistant director (Brodie Atkison) of Fragment Theatre Company, to create an abandoned warehouse atmosphere. The reason both have suggested an abandoned warehouse as a stimulus, is because the two narrators symbolise the creators of this world the character wish to escape to. The abandoned warehouse also plays into the DIY theatre aspect, as the lighting style created a playground for us to build in.

The images I sourced of an abandoned warehouse and which inspired my designs, can be found on https://fragmenttc.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/technical/ under “Lighting Mood Board – Design 1 – Narrators Opening Speech” (Rowan, 2017).

(Abandoned Warehouse from Pinterest, 2017)

The image above is the first image I have found, and the first I will be using to inspire the lighting design for the opening section. The first thing I spotted and which I wish to recreate is the sunshine beams which shine through the gaps of the building. The abandoned warehouse has been left to naturally self-demolish, causing these gaps seen in the picture above on the ceiling and in the walls. The sunlight beams shine through these gaps causing shaped shining’s on the floor. This inspires me to create similar beams shining through the scaffolding, giving the effect that the dream world has not yet been fully constructed, and gaps remain in the dream like world. My next step is to create a colour scheme which matches the colours seen in the image above. The colour scheme seen through many pictures of abandoned warehouses are very dark and warn. The colours seen in the image above consist of colours such as brown and green. A similar colour scheme which resembles an abandoned warehouse can be seen in films or video games which are based in a post-apocalyptic world (I am Legend & The Last of Us).

My next step is to create a mood bored for a gameshow. As seen on the walls of the buildings in the images seen on the ‘Lighting Mood Board – Design 1 – Narrators Opening Speech,’ there appears to be graffiti from visitors who wishes to express their creative side. The graffiti shows a variety of bright colours, like the colours we see on an actual gameshow on television. The mood bored which created the Gameshow design in the final production can be found at https://fragmenttc.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/technical/ under “Lighting Mood Board – Design 3 – Gameshow Design” (Rowan, 2017).

Works Cited:

Interior Design Hunter (2015) What is a moodboard and how to create one? [online] Available from http://interiorstylehunter.com/what-is-a-moodboard-and-how-to-create-one/ [Accessed 28 May 2017].

Pinterest (2017) Abandoned Warehouse.

Rowan, B. (2017) Lighting Mood Board – Design 1 – Narrators Opening Speech [online] Available from https://fragmenttc.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/technical/ [Accessed 28 May 2017].

Rowan, B. (2017) Lighting Mood Board – Design 3 – Gameshow Design [online] Available from https://fragmenttc.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/technical/ [Accessed 28 May 2017].

April 18, 2017Emily Nixon No Comments

Where’s Pip Wednesday!!

The most popular of our marketing strategies came from Brodie Atkinson. It was the idea to post on our social media platforms pictures of Pip Strickland in famous photos and the viewers would have to find her in the picture. This was an ongoing joke within the company as Pip would disappear and we would have no clue where she had gone. So we wanted to share this joke with our followers. Here are a few of my favourite ‘Where’s Pip Wednesdays’:

Collage of Where’s Pip Wednesday (Wahl, 2017)

We had great feedback from this and would constantly be told how excited they were for the next instalment. It makes me sad that is coming to an end!

Work Cited:

Wahl, S. (2017) Collage of Where’s Pip Wednesday.

April 15, 2017Brodie Atkinson No Comments

‘I’m a deeper shade of blue, And there’s nothing I can do’ (Steps, 1998)

Throughout this process, I have always had a personal ideology of failure. This can be attributed to a large array of things, including personal and theoretical, but all of them have come together to create a distaste for ‘perfect’ theatre.

As mentioned previously, I have always wanted to avoid this theatre company being a cliché and for us not to present a glorified version of the world or the issue we are dealing with. This may be viewed as pessimistic but I rarely agree or enjoy theatre that presents a golden version of an issue, simply to attract audience or be nice. To me, this is not staying true to a theatre company’s storytelling role. Plus, I don’t think it presents a fair or honest view of reality. ‘Failure challenges the cultural dominance of instrumental rationality and the fictions of continuity that bind the way we imagine and manufacture the world.’ (Bailes, 2011, 02) shows how this representation of failure, especially within western theatre, can be a powerful tool. I know that therefore I like failure within theatre, it represents the truth about the world and doesn’t add to the imaginative stability of this world.

I think this also links to the type of comedy that naturally came from the development process, with it instantly taking a darker, more sadistic tone, especially more tongue in cheek. A quote I kept coming back to, when writing the script especially, was Freudian view on laughter and how he ‘saw humour as frequently harbouring our aggression towards forces, institutions and individuals that hold power over us.’ (Gray, 2009, 10), which works perfectly with this sense that we wanted to show the unknown everyday story, that is often lost in the sea of big news stories.

This meant that I always wanted the characters to ‘fail’, in some way or other. The character may have succeeded or learnt from their experience but in all cases, they needed to ‘fail’ or return to the position they were in the beginning. I believe that this shows a true representation of the world, especially when it came to escapism. A huge part of escapism is that you don’t actually deal with the issue, but just avoid it…so why should our show be any different.

End of Childhood (O’Donnell, 2017)

The one character that I think this was presented through most was Laura. Throughout the creation process of her, we always had the aim for her to fail. Yes, she may have escaped into her childhood fantasy but she was always going to be dragged back to her harsh reality. This is shown in the line that ends her scene, showing that her fairy tale was a lie all along and was destined to fail, unlike a fairy tale usually does. Of course, this was seen throughout all the characters, but Laura’s was the harshest to deal with. Thus, achieving the effect of failure that I wanted in this play and presenting a real view of the world, something Fragment wanted to do.

Works Cited

O’Donnell, S. (2017) Fragment Theatre Company’s Tech and Dress Run.

Bailes, Sara Jane. (2011) Performance Theatre And The Poetics Of Failure. 1st ed. London: New York, 2011. Print.

Gray, Jonathan. (2009) Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post-Network Era. 1st ed. London: 2011. Print.