Tickling scenarios

Danger and opportunity. That’s what the word crisis means in Chinese, according to Terry O’Leary, No Fixed Abode’s director.

And it’s apparently what the newly-minted actors will present at next Wednesday’s performances; problems which pose both a danger and an opportunity. The solution(s) will come from the audience.

Emergency, insecurity, risk, hazard, instability, menace, precariousness, jeopardy. All meaningful words to our actors familiar with the sharp edges of life. Opportunities and solutions have less resonance. But that’s why we’re here. 

The actors are tasked to come up with an image, a scenario: “How people become homeless”. Not surprisingly this doesn’t take long.

The desperate story of one young participant’s immersion in parental neglect and violence is soon co-opted. She is upset remembering what happened but as her experience is merged into others, and she can replay it in a different way, she recovers. Her strength and determination to move on is truly impressive.

Terry is pleased we have “tickled out a couple of scenarios” as she put it about how people find themselves on the cusp of a crisis; the tricky boundary between danger and opportunity.

Relying on others

The girl was blindfolded. The room quiet as the thief considered how to snatch the keys under her chair. He edged closer trying to hide even his breathing as he loomed over her. Suddenly, the floor creaked noisily in the silence and it was over.

Yes, it was another game on a morning’s training generally focussed on improving our awareness of our fellow actors and the theatrical space. We imitated each other’s walk, followed sounds made by a partner and allowed ourselves to be directed, with our eyes shut, around the room with just touches to the shoulders and head.

Hayley who at 16 wants to leave Corby for a fresh start elsewhere found it difficult initially to allow herself to be ‘controlled’ by her partner Chim. “It was difficult to trust her,” she said. All six foot plus of ex-guardsman Spike, in contrast, clearly enjoyed being propelled around the room by Michael, an actor/ambassador with Cardboard Citizens. “I was quite comfortable with it,” he said.

“It’s nice to rely on someone else, isn’t it?” asked our production director Terry at the conclusion of the morning’s games. Heads nodded in agreement. It was, nice. In the end.

Playing games

Here's a quick flavour of the games that play such a major part in any Forum Theatre production. These are from the second day's training at the Corby Cube.

Labels again

I am having a problem. And it’s about labels again (see first post). Someone has said to me that they want to know more about the participants in No Fixed Abode.

And I certainly want to reflect their views and experience in this blog not just mine. But we are all still getting to know each other... gently. I’m also suspicious about the question because I think the person is looking for a label and the tabloid scenario. You know the sort of thing. “Claire, 19, school dropout, alcoholic, self-harmer and now homeless”. Never mind the more complicated reality and history. 

Of course the participants know more than most about violence, drugs, alcohol, prison and the darker side of life than most people but it doesn’t define them. Actually maybe what does is that they have all suffered - for whatever reason. All of which means they have stories that are worth listening too and learning from. 

So that’s why I’m trying to do.  

A question of trust

So how did the first day go then? How does a group of total strangers begin a process where, with little or no previous experience, they eventually end up on stage putting on a partially improvised, interactive performance?

Well, what they need is some skills obviously but there’s something else equally if not more important. Trust. 

If the actors-in-training don’t trust themselves or each other then they will find it really hard to be authentic/believable on stage. But gaining someone’s trust usually takes time and we’ve only got a week. We need to make some deep connections and develop mutual understanding very quickly. And some of the participants have serious reasons not to trust anyone.

That’s why the games developed by Augusto Boal (see page tab) and used in the process for No Fixed Abode are so brilliant. Under the empathic direction of Cardboard Citizens’ Associate Artist Terry O’Leary we launch into a variety of games aimed at everything from helping us remember each other names to seeing what we might have in common (or not). The combination of the silly, yet occasionally quite intimate and profound games, helps rapidly breakdown the barriers we all sometimes get lodged behind.

I am also struck (again) by the importance of the physical. Our education, which is usually aimed at the neck up, does us all a disfavour.  The fact is, surely, thinking, feeling and doing involves not just the mind but also body. So our sound, movement and trust exercises all serve to improve the connection. As a result by the end of play (and that’s the word) we are, whatever our diverse backgrounds and ages, much, much more comfortable with each other.

“Brilliant. Knew it was a good idea to come out of my comfort zone,” says Tony, who tangled as he is in a complicated and difficult housing and life situation, is not kidding.

Materials matter

Forgot to post this little drawing I did last night. I used coloured pencils which most contemporary artists would consider really naff. And actually I think they are restrictive and not suited for much expressiveness but I was tired, in bed, and mostly thinking about colour. But I think the lesson for me, anyway, is don't use them. Ever.

Comfort zones

So yesterday was the first proper training session for No Fixed Abode.

I was didn't sleep much on Sunday winding myself up as I usually manage to do before a new project. It doesn't take much to make me anxious and not having a clue about how I was going to juggle participating in at least part of the training, as well as writing the blog and producing some kind of artwork (also undecided) was definitely enough to put paid to a restful night.

So I arrived strung out and nervous which was good because as far as I could tell all of us were outside our comfort zones to some degree. But at least I have been in The Corby Cube frequently before and I know (sort of) what we are trying to do, unlike most of the participants who have been scooped up from, in some cases, an extremely tough existence.

So I decide to stuff being an outsider for the first day at least. Sitting on the sidelines with a notebook and bits of paper is anyway against the spirit of Forum Theatre (on which No Fixed Abode is based) as it revolves around interaction and participation.

So we began.

But more of that in the next post when I find some clear reflection time.

Under threat

Thinking about being powerless

Just read that 7000 children were estimated to be homeless over Christmas and millions of people rely on credit to pay for their homes, according to Shelter http://england.shelter.org.uk/. Grim statistics in the current economic climate when so many jobs are under threat. Doesn't take much imagination to see just how easy it is to run into trouble.

Open spaces

Open spaces like a theatre stage or the outdoors often help prompt inspirational work - and so it proved today in Fermyn Woods, near Brigstock.

An exercise in mark making involving clay balls thrown from some distance; charcoal drawing using a long stick; burning paper, and a collage of natural materials produced some great work.

All done by some more artists-in-the-making- just like those starting on their training for No Fixed Abode next week. These teenagers were from William Knibb Complimentary Education Centre.

The workshop was part of series I was running with my artist colleague Liam Hadjipetrou in association with Fermynwoods Contemporary Art Centre http://www.fermynwoods.co.uk. 

The William Knibb teens are too young to take part in No Fixed Abode but we're hoping they can come to a performance and Lisa from The Core has kindly offered us some space for a special art/theatre workshop.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.