A Coping Mechanism
An autobiographical installation
Subjective (like every thought/feeling/opinion)
Exploring perspective and contrasts
Duration: anywhere between 1-6 hours would be appropriate.

Contrasts between the audience and the performer, keeping both separate throughout the performance.
P = Performer
A = Audience/Audience members
P To Do – improvised movement influenced by music and emotion, a way to lose oneself in the distraction of the music.
A To Do – reading the documentation of the performer’s writings and tweets, listen to the provided audio, and observe the performer.
P Sound – uplifting music, only the performer can hear.
A Sound – recordings of the performer’s personal phone calls, only the audience can hear.
P Space – taped off square/rectangular space in the centre of the room (like a picture).
A Space – taped off space round the sides of the room (like a frame).
P Perception – the performer in their room at home, not aware of the audience.
A Perception – the audience in a viewing gallery (installation), is aware of both performer and own surroundings.

The writings – these will be printed and placed on the walls all around the room, possibly presented as an art piece, set with props or frames.
The tweets – these will be printed and placed on the walls around the room, as if it is the description or information next to an art piece.

This is my current idea for my final solo performance. There are still options I will have to consider, set and prop ideas to design, and purpose to explain, however these are the basics of my idea.

Set Up – Discarded Performance Idea
The title has a double meaning.
A comedy solo performance about the technical side of the theatre, setting the stage for a performance (the get in) and playing with perception and visual illusion.

The performance will use two locations, one that the audience are in, and another that the performer will use that the audience have a limited view of. The audience will stand in the corridor, outside of the auditorium’s entrance, as if queueing up to take their seats.

The first time the performer leaves the space, going into the auditorium, a projected screen will flicker onto the wall showing the theatre’s empty stage.

Throughout the performance, the Techie will travel in and out of the two spaces collecting and placing props and set for ‘the show’ that is to come. These items will change form/shape/size/colour when the doors close between the audience and performer, out of view of the stage projection. Periodically, the performer may also change clothes/makeup/hair or become a completely different person when returning to the audience.

The performer will interact with the audience at the beginning of the performance, apologising for delay/incorrection of ‘the show’s’ starting time. They will offer the audience the chance to leave, either to completely leave, or kill some time getting a coffee, wait in the foyer/bar, etc. this will give the audience chance to come and go as they please, making each experience individual, (and I would plan a fake walk out audience member just in case).

Throughout the performance the Techie will make small casual conversation with the audience, getting them to interact with the performance.
This can be done by:
– Getting an audience member to hold the door to the auditorium open.

– Dropping a box of props right in front of an audience member – could leave them to pick up the items as the techie stands around talking to other audience members.

– Explain to the people queuing for ‘the show’ that the performer is late and therefore the lighting is unfinished. Convince an audience member to enter the theatre and stand on the stage to help focus the spotlight and get them to repeat, then act, a couple of ‘the show’s’ absurd cue lines.

The performance will end with the Techie closing the stages curtains and playing the LPAC theatre announcement. At this point, the projected screen will flicker off and all the audience members in the corridor (except from the walk out(s)) will have their tickets taken off them.

Watching previous solo performances as a class allowed us to discuss different components of performance and personal tastes. Much of the class were open to contrasting styles and agreed when it came to the likeability and entertainment value of each solo piece. Intention and purpose were decided as big influencing factors when picking a topic and style to create a performance around. Every decision made and not made should be purposeful.

Some of the class picked out timing and framing the stage as key details to focus on. Repetitive actions, long transitions and extended performance sections seemed to disengage the audience’s attention, especially if these segments didn’t advance the performance. Ideas of how to frame the stage were varied. Props and set could be used to create the world of the performance; however, some students didn’t care for props used specifically to be visually aesthetic if they were not used by the performer or had a purpose.
It was made clear in the session we all had mixed opinions on specific elements, like the use of multimedia, lighting, and sound.
I think that solo performance doesn’t have to be focused on the performer, using them as the vessel through which to tell a story. The performer can be secondary to the piece or even absent and still perform through other mediums (video, audio, writing, installation, etc.). This is something I will be exploring more when thinking about the creation of my own performance.

Spalding Gray’s Swimming to Cambodia

From the film we watched in class and online research

Confessional performance – trust and sympathy from the audience.
Characterisation – a version of one’s self and anyone else involved in the narrative.
Personal descriptive story/narrative/anecdotes
Dates, locations, and information weaved into it
Make comparisons to other things (similes/metaphors)
Use informal language fillers for a sense of authenticity (e.g. you know)
Movement simple but rehearsed actions (e.g. roll up sleeves, lower head, move forward)
Change voice/volume/pace/tone

Spalding Gray Inspired Monologue

(Read quick with each sentence getting quicker)
Every time I see my parents, generally my mother, she’ll comment on the way that I look, as if something’s different every time, even when its not, she’ll say to me, “you look thinner, don’t you think she looks thinner, Rick?”, or she’ll say, “what’s this?” and point to my stomach like a child would do the first time they try jelly. It’s always a comment on my appearance, my clothes, my hair, my skin, my makeup, my lack of makeup, anything she can see that is different to her. It always frustrates me that when I see them it’s the first thing they mention, weight and…
(Catch breath, tuck hair behind ear, sit forward)

(Read calmer)
When I was younger my mum used to search my room for wrappers.
Wrappers that I would have in bags under my bed for days. She would retrieve them and empty the contents onto my duvet and wait for me to come home. So, I would go upstairs and see what she had uncovered.

(Read at a constant quicker speed)
I used to say the wrappers were collected from my friends when we went to the park or the shop together. I said that my friends would throw their rubbish on the floor which a lot of them often did, and I never liked the fact they did that, it always seemed so rude and inconsiderate of other people to one moment have something in their hands and then toss it as soon as it had no use, preventable trash cluttering the town for weeks.
I would pick it up and put it in my pocket until I could find a bin. And like usual there’d be no bins around or I’d have the wrappers in my pocket for so long I’d forget they were there until I got home. Which is when I would place the wrappers in a carrier bag under my bed.

(Read slower and softer)
No, I didn’t like my friends throwing their rubbish on the floor, and yes, I would clean up after my friends. But the ones in the bags were not from them, they were all mine. This happened repeatedly as I grew up and I felt immensely guilty every time, but not because I had spent all of my money and eaten all this food week in, week out, but because I had been caught.