First week of rehearsals for Nakamitsu
Amazing things have started to happen.
From my point of view as “writer” or in this case adaptor/translator and upholder of the text… the moments where the words really start to come alive is incredibly thrilling.
The play respecting the Noh tradition – without being Noh (which would be impossible for us here) – is combining physicality, dance, poetry, song and music… hopefully everything theatre can be or might be.
It’s short too, so the West End Whingers might like it.
There was a beautiful moment when there is a switch from a 1st person to a 3rd person narrative [Brecht took this idea from Japanese and Chinese theatre, amongst other places, and really ran with it ---> now we have "Brechtian" theatrical moments] where there was a possible solution in combining the moment with a hummed chant. It may or may not work in full production but in that moment at that time at that space it felt very truthful.
Just one of the aspects that make rehearsals exciting. Although I’m only there half the time as work and other duties call. And actors (and directors) do probably need some time to create without their writer looking over thier shoulders (!) or do people think the writer should be round for everything…?
Artists of East Asian descent
OK. So don’t get me started on the “tick boxing” and categorisation of people.
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Interestingly, categorisation seems to be a very human trait, I did some of my degree in this area of Experimental Psychology. Did you know that sheep dog farmers, show similar face recognition categorisation characteristics to naming their sheep dogs as “normal” people do in recognising human faces (adjusted for race/environment) ?
The short conclusion is that we probably don’t have a part of our brain devoted to just recognising human face but instead have a part of our brain which gets trained to be very good at recognising patterns such as faces.
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I digress.
I wanted to link to this new resource
http://www.eastonline.org/ which is a database for artists of East Asian descent. Could be useful although still in its early days.
Rehearsals for Nakamitsu
Both slightly scard and excited with rehearsals for Nakamitsu starting.
It’s probably my biggest play so far, in terms of venue and reputation, even if it is in the tiny Gate theatre.
It struck me once again, through auditions and now into rehearsals how many committed actors and theatre professionals there are out there, many with years of training and a myriad of skills.
I’m looking forward to know how the physicality and music of the play develops and how my text holds up.
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I managed to pop by the Whingers party on the weekend– I didn’t realise it was Andrew’s birthday as well. It was fun and good to see the actual faces behind the blogs…
Great Theatre Archive
I’ve come across this brilliant archive resource at the British Library.
In their words:
Project overview: This website accompanies a five-year project (2003-2008) to reinvestigate British theatre history 1945-1968, from the perspectives of both the theatregoer and the practitioner.
You can now access:
a unique oral history of British theatre 1945-1968, with transcripts (sound extracts will be added later)
a description of the contents of the British Library’s theatre archives of key post-war figures, such as John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Michel Saint-Denis and Cedric Hardwicke.
There are great interview transcripts for instance:
Michael Frayn, Harold Hobson, Arnold Wesker and Timothy West; Leo Kersley, Bernard Hepton and Thelma Barlow.
Check it out here
The BL also holds an archive of most modern British plays.
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I came across it as I discovered after my first play, Lemon Love, was performed at the Finborough Theatre that the 1968 Theatres Act as well as ending the Lord Chamberlain’s power to pre-censor theatre…. also stipulated that a copy of every new play performed in a licensed venue in Great Britain should be deposited at the British Library!
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About me
I'm a playwright and investment analyst. I have a broad range of interests: food, gardening, innovation & intellectual property, sustainability, architecture & design, writing and the arts. I sit on the board of Talawa Theatre Company and advise a CIS investment trust on socially responsible investments.
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Recent Work
Recent plays include, for theatre: Nakamitsu, Yellow Gentlemen, Lost in Peru, Lemon Love. For radio: Places in Between (R4), Patent Breaking Life Saving (WS).
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Nakamitsu
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Yellow Gentlemen
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