You will work in groups of between 3 (minimum) and 8 and the nature of the performance will be dependent on the individual skills and interests of the project group. Groups may choose to work generally in one of the following areas:
- The direction and performance of a scripted play (this may be self-scripted or adapted)
- The creation and performance of an originally
devised piece (this can include using prelisting text as stimulus)
- A Physical Theatre piece
- A site-specific Performance
- A piece of Live Art (this may also include
installation or durational pieces).
- Comedy students may also create a live sketch
show.
Each student within the group will take on a
role as either: director, actor, deviser/performer, writer, stage manager*.
As you can see the brief is very open, which has challenges in itself; finding a daisy in a fenced garden is much easier than an open forest but the end result of finding it in the forest is much more fantastical and rewarding. To begin the process of finding, the daisy if you like, or idea I wrote down a list of all the different types of theatre I have particularly enjoyed studying!
This didn't really spark my enthusiasm for ideas however, after sitting for half an hour with a cup of tea, so I decided to write a list of things that I wanted to say personally. All pieces have started on the basis that someone has had something to say; even if it is that they purposefully don't want to say anything, that is a statement in itself.
This is a list I kept adding to for a period of weeks over the summer, every time I was inspired by something I jotted it down, even if I knew the idea was not very good! As you can see, at first I felt quite restricted and then on the second page my mind started to free itself a little bit more.
Then an idea struck me, I was walking through gay village in Manchester where bunches & bunches of flowers were laid at the side of the canal; someone had very sadly passed away on the canal a few days before. A real eeriness hung in the air, not just from the death but I kept over hearing conversations along the canal about this 'pusher'.
When I got home I started doing research on the internet and found, not only countless newspaper articles on it, but also that channel 4 are currently funding a documentary on it. As I looked into the story more and more, over the next 3 weeks, I thought it was a very good basis for a piece as it has a lot of political and social issues to explore. Including how people react to a situation where there has been 61 deaths in 5 years; 48 of which the bodies been unidentifiable.
After forming a group with Devon, Sarah, Kane and Jack, my friend came across the book 'Birdbox' by Josh Malerman in which people can not leave there house unless they wear blindfolds. It is a thriller where people are so afraid of a killer outside that they cannot face the outside world. I love this idea of blindfolds and it would be a very useful, exaggerated, symbolism of how people and react to covered up situations in there home town.
Bibliography
- Glendinning, A. 2015. Serial Killer dubbed 'The Pusher' is killing city's gay men by pushing them into canal's, says author. The Mirror [online]. Available from: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/serial-killer-dubbed-the-pusher-6318233 [Accessed August 28, 2015].
- Hesketh, S. and Pye, D. 2015. EXCLUSIVE: 'Find out who killed our sons!' New canal death sparks fears The Pusher's back. Daily Star [online]. Available from: http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/424390/Manchester-canal-Pusher-killer-students-deaths-tragic-parents-find-murderer [Accessed August 16, 2015].
- Malerman, J. 2014. BirdBox. London: HarperVoyager.
- No Author, 2015. 'The Pusher' 60 bodies dragged from Manchester Canal, Serial Killer Rumoured. RT Question More [online]. Available from: https://www.rt.com/uk/222655-serial-killer-manchester-canals/ [Accessed August 15, 2015].
- Rodgers, T. 2015. The Pusher: Channel 4 documentary to investigate Manchester canal 'Serial Killer' claim. Salford News [online]. Available from: http://salfordonline.com/6621-the-pusher-channel-4-documentary-to-investigate-manchester-canal-serial-killer-claim.html [Accessed August 24, 2015].
- Wheatstone, R. 2015. 'The Pusher' professor stands by canal serial killer claims and says bereaved families share his fears. Manchester Evening News [online]. Available from: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/the-pusher-professor-stands-canal-8450695 [Accessed August 15, 2015].
