Program for Playground Open Studio

Photograph: Rachael Perry

PROGRAM FOR THE OPEN STUDIO GIVEN TO AUDIENCE
(we asked the people there to give us as much feedback as they liked - the program was just a little background of the project)

THE PLAYGROUND

Performance/Installation looking at the way adults play...
Play is escaping and imagining. No in-turned eyes on yourself. Appreciating the here and now.

To develop the performance aspects of Playground over the past two years Nancy has facilitated performers through physical theatre workshops. These sessions where about delving into the performers personal imagination and through the body exploring what play means to them. Nancy was aiming to find physicality that had a pure quality of Play.

The design of The Playground focuses on ways that objects, space, colour and costume can instil a sense of play in the participant. In its entirety, The Playground is an interactive installation. The recent development of the design element has focused on altering levels, depth of field, scale, frames/opacity and placing surprising objects together, as a way to promote imagination and play.

Music is an important element of Playground. We are fascinated by how it arouses performer and audience. We are curious about how music might assist an image. Music effects the imagination, emotions and reveals narrative meanings.

Past developments have also focused on how performers can guide audience towards taking part. But at this stage we want the audience to sit back and to observe the playful act. When the performer reveals the private is it exciting?

This open studio is the culmination of a one-week intensive development of The Playground project. It was aimed at exploring how a performer and designer can work side by side in a creative space.

OUR GOALS:

• Explore repetition through the relationship between movement and design
• To return to the basics of creating theatre; working with a set frame, creating narrative in space and designating where audience is seated.
• Performer: create 3 movement sequences that evoke Nancy’s personal sense of play.
• Designer: create 1 image (still or life) that captures play – analyse what elements are present
• Fuse the performance and design process: must incorporate the swing structure and popular music and the swing


Thanks to the Spark team, Bernard and the staff at Cubby’s, Strange Fruit, Fitzroy Town Hall, Paul Mognahan, Mark, Ben, Ness, Amy, Anita, Corey, Fraggle, Rachael and all those involved in the project so far!