Research Project: Meeting 1 15/01/2010

-Audience Reaction Based on Background- meeting notes. Uncollated.

Classical Theatre input?

Do audiences need particular educations or background to "get" classical theatre? It used to be "for the people"...

Baz Luhrman: Bringing people into Shakespeare, or bringing people into flashy movies with a classical twist?

Shakespeare is constantly developing--are we adapting it to relate to people, or trying to adapt people to relate to it?

In-Yer-Face performance: if you're surrounded by the show, you can't avoid being involved. you can't check out mentally--you're trapped.

Punch Drunk: very involved. people touch you. you are part of the show.

Average theatre goer vs practitioner vs non-theatre goer. different for all.

There should always be something in the show that keeps your attention.
We must ensure that all of what people see is relevant to the intended experience.

Clapping because you think you should, not because you actually appreciated the show: Re: Forest Fringe donation scheme shows appreciation far more than applause alone.

Creating stuff: what is the discrepancy between focusing on the process vs the product? Process without product frequently feels disappointing, unfulfilling.

Adrian: Street clowns in Mexico: Theatre of Not Being Noticed

The Ethics of stepping into people's lives

In applied theatre, baseline probable reaction goes out the window. There is no common ground among the mentally disturbed, the poor, the theatrically disinclined.

Project Trimming: What are our separate strengths/focal areas?
--working with disadvantaged groups
--immersive theatre experiences
--classical theatre (Shakespeare for everyone!)

More primitive experiences--ritual dance--more universally recognizable?

Seek patterns of interest within a practical framework

Transformational Theatre: materiality transforms performer and audience at the same time

The Transformative Power of Performance

Blast Theory: Games as theatre? Do we even call it theatre anymore?

Sally Mackey--the Caer Lian Trilogy
-Site specific, how do you go back to your project after you've had a year to grow and change?

-reception based on culture--if you know snakes, would you jump on stage to save Maria Avonovitch? Do you analyze with more depth? Does that inhibit self-expression?

-If you have to plant a tree of study, where do you dig the hole in relation to everyone's starting point?-

-Study of one specific reaction to one specific stimulus in a variety of communities-

-Filming the audience opens a brand new can of worms--how do they behave if they know they're being watched?

-Difference between Reaction and Perception. Ensure you focus on one and avoid language which could imply crossover.

Identify "key concepts" which the subject typically suggests and establish straightaway whether or not you'll be addressing them in this instance.

Make other people hear your idea before you choose to study it.