Friday 30 December 2011

Playing and surviving


Experimenting directly on brown wrapping
 paper in a little homage to Irish painter Jack Yates

If you're just busy trying to survive, there's no space to think clearly let along creatively.  That's one of the reasons why I admire Cardboard Citizens' work with the homeless. They give people, who are usually consumed by the harsh business of living on the edge, the opportunity to safely pause, look around and see what other possibilities life might offer. And how problems can be confronted in new ways.

Augusto Boal who devised Forum Theatre, which is the basis of  Cardboard Citizens' work in Corby, understood that it is not just the literally oppressed or the marginalised that suffer from the lack of imaginative space. He coined the term 'cop-in-the-head' to illustrate that all of us, to some degree, restrict ourselves and have the capacity to fearfully deny or destroy even the good we are offered. We become blinkered. We don't even look - let alone see.

My malignant troll (see last post) is one such cop. A much lesser version of the totalitarian army that formerly ruled there. That's why I understand the need for Cardboard Citizens and why I am enjoying some serious creative play with the Kraft wrapping paper.

Thursday 29 December 2011

Drawn to play



Two weeks until the production schedule starts up again. In the meantime I thought I would try and prepare by drawing and painting on a roll of  brown Kraft packing paper.

Hope lies in this bit
I haven't drawn much for some time. And although I am enjoying the process, it's also hard work and I am plagued by an old acquaintance; the malignant troll who sits on my shoulder from time to time with a sneer. I tell him not to be so impatient.

The first large drawing is not very good as I had only a tiny, quick sketch made at The Core to base it on. But most artists usually manage to find something in their work, not matter how small, to encourage themselves with. I quite liked this bit here (left) because it's showing some varied and yes, hooray, unrestrained mark making.

Why the brown packing paper? Well I use it in workshops as it's strong, cheap and less intimidating than white paper. I am not sure at the moment what I am going to produce in the way of work for No Fixed Abode. But simple, brown packing paper seems like the right material for a project about the homeless.

Monday 19 December 2011

What's the point?

Cardboard Citizens' Project manager Tony McBride finishes an energetic drama game and calls together the first gathering (see last post) of all the potential actors-in-training. He begins to explain more about the mechanics of Forum Theatre which was developed by Augusto Boal the Brazilian theatre director, writer and politician and is the foundation for No Fixed Abode.

He asks everyone what the point of the games are. There is a moment's pause. It is obvious what some of these participants (all of whom are living on the edges of society) think but are too polite to say - at least out loud. Then some replies come: “Break the ice”, “encourage communication”, “relax us all”, “have a laugh”. Tony agrees. He says the games may be weird, silly and sometimes uncomfortable to do but they are part of the process of giving actors (with no previous experience) the tools, skills and strength necessary to face an audience.

Sunday 18 December 2011

From Cardboard to Cube

The Cube may be a striking, iconic (so the architects’ hope) building but especially for those on the margins, it is an intimidating space. I have a thing about transformative spaces which is not really about the feel or aesthetics of a place but still a friendly face does help, and the Cube’s exterior is not inviting. Once inside, if you can stay with it, the large open reception, rehearsal and theatre spaces can give you a sense of freedom and every stage, including The Core’s, is alluring. (In case you are confused the building is called the Cube and the theatre The Core).

The Cube
But some of our recruits don’t get that far. A group of teenagers seeing a mixed bunch of adults in the reception not unsurprisingly take flight. We’re disappointed, they would add much to the production, Lisa thinks they might reappear for the next part of the project after Christmas.

The rest of us make our way down into the Lab, one of the rehearsal areas. After introductions, which I miss because I am still hoping the teenagers will reappear, Tony from Cardboard Citizens gets into a few drama games. I am so impressed with the participants who are willing to give it a go. But it’s all too bizarre for a couple of the youngsters and  they watch from the sidelines. With more time they might take the risk but we’re on a tight schedule and Tony needs to move things on.

Joining up...or not

Unlike the army, joining forces with Cardboard Citizens, means having your own voice, getting on a stage and being faced with a variety of options some of which require the ability to be silly or “fucking nuts” as one participant put it. For someone who has endured homelessness, abuse, poverty and all the other things that go with living on the edge, that’s a particularly hard sell. Dropping the label to become an actor for awhile an unlikely prospect.

Naturally, people are wary. But Cardboard Citizens’ project manager Tony has been through this many times. He listens but doesn’t push. He wants to know what the issues and problems are. The answers are grim. The youngsters in particularly seem caught navigating a vicious, unrelenting sea of drugs, violence and alcohol. They expose the raw underbelly of life in Corby and Kettering.

I know from my own experience that this sort of creative work is certainly confidence building if not potentially life-changing. But there was a long time in my life (well most it actually) when I too wouldn’t have touched it with a barge pole so I can appreciate the lack of trust and suspicion.

The Background

No Fixed Abode is a venture between The Core at the Corby Cube, and the internationally-respected London theatre company Cardboard Citizens www.cardboardcitizens.org.uk and Housing Options, Corby Borough Council.

The initial idea (sparked admirably by the Housing team at the council) was developed further, after consultation with The Core, from a play about those on the margins of society to a production acted by them. 

Saturday 17 December 2011

Sticky Labels

Just finished the 'recruitment' stage of No Fixed Abode and I feel the need to rant about labels. How demeaning, destructive and dehumansing they are. 

That’s why this new theatre project at The Core is so important. It gives a platform to those who have lost their voice, their place in our community.  And the participants/actors - the ‘homeless’ ‘teenage parents’, ‘excluded students’, etc, etc, - have just taken their first steps in discovering that their stories and experiences matter.

And believe me, once you listen to them it’s not a label you see but a person, a face, a name. Actually brave people willing to walk into an intimidating large theatre and try a new form of being and communicating together.

Looking beyond the labels is what this innovative theatre production is all about. But that’s a challenge - real life, like real people, is messy and complicated. So unlike most information, entertainment and yes, theatre that we neatly package and passively consume nowadays, No Fixed Abode requires participation and effort from not only its neophyte actors but also its audience (which I’ll get to later). 

This is conventional theatre turned on its head. It is going to take a little explaining because it’s deep but then anything worthwhile in life requires attention doesn’t it? And like every decent creative work it’s also not clear quite where we’re going or how we’re going to get there - or for that matter whose going to take part.  What I do know for sure is that everybody involved in No Fixed Abode is now on a significant journey. And that definitely includes me.