I have got out of a habit I had when younger: small shows at the edge of my practice in a throw-away manner.
That was partly because there’s a certain amount of effort required in making them pay off in terms of what I’ve been focused on career-wise.
Partly also the pandemic, of course, and a few other things.
But I now have a plan for 2023, beyond ‘make more of my own work/the wishlist’, ‘bring back Come Bargain With Uncanny Things’ and ‘get more work as a writer/director/consultant for others’.
To do at least one small show a month.
Well, not shows. For insurance reasons, these are going to be small parties/gatherings, at which there’ll be a performance element. But they’ll be free to attend (for a small audience), with donations to help cover costs optional.
The programme may change, but here are 12 tests I’d like to make:
A Show For A Cow
How/what does that look like? What’s different when performing to different animals? Anything useful in this?
Leo Doulton’s Birthday Funeral
A party-LARP for a living corpse. Playing with ritual and death.
Dinner and a Show
Combine feeding with the show. Hospitality/eating. Welcome people.
Tennis Balls (& Other Physical Tasks)
How is performing classical texts shaped by having tennis balls hurled at the performer? More particularly, what happens in that kind of atmosphere? Likely combined with attempting to work in more ‘extreme’ modes of theatre.
Paradise Craved
A religious service about being a fallen angel lost in the city.
12-Handed Monopoly
A game/LARP about capitalism, governance, and resistance. Durational.
Shit Hot Young Things
As in an unpublished manifesto, a raucous new music night that breaks the salon/opera house model.
Sit In Silence, See What Happens
A test of slow work without words.
L’Morte d’Arthur
An epic poetry reading. How does it fit into what we’re looking to hear now? Does it work like other old forms do? Can it be something else?
Eugene Onegin
A recording, with puppets/mime/mixed media.
Rite of Midwinter
Finding a rite for dark moments.
