DAY 9 - Charlotte/ Ellie

Day 9

Morning Session Self warm up
CV / Ruth continue a conversation that began after yesterdays session ended about process / structures within the room / RBT’s role

Ruth’s talked through her current thoughts…

Ideas on the process of the work. How feelings are a reflection of the groups feeling, rather than our own. Ruth has been feeling excited and also confused about the process that we are currently operating with over the last few days i.e. when is a good time to come in? What is the premise that we are working on this week?
Possibly two sorts of investigation going on
The process of what is going on – the roles responsibilities.
The process of the way a whole group is functioning…i.e. how do we start the day, the timekeeping, the tasks of the day, who should take the lead? Has the structure of sharing the responsibility been clarified? Maybe there is a role which is a chairing of the work? (i.e. not necessarily Charlotte?) Could we make this responsibility clearer by chairing? i.e. making sure all contributions are heard. Make roles clearer i.e. who is documenting? Who is chairing? Who is overlooking the group to make sure all are involved?

Confusion has arisen over the subject of tasks. Perhaps if the structure of leading/group dynamic/task giving was broader/less blurred there would be more clarity. Issue of the chairing practical role – sometimes is blurred with the director / leading creative role. Is Charlotte hoping to separate these roles? Is the blurriness of these roles useful?
RK – it remains that it is Charlotte that brought us together. This is a creative journey and it doesn’t mean that individuals cannot have their own creative journey too.
The issue is whether it is more about the creative process or about the structure of the group. Different people coming and going has made newer people feel more uncertain. Not to make any assumptions about how the group is going to work.
Practical aspects of how to bring past experience into the new week, with new people. Perhaps it is about the language that is used. Is time wasted deflecting rather than experiencing the current group now.
V – is the energy spent on delegating not so useful?
CV – What are the rules of this new game? We are following new undefined rules but structured roles within the group will help us.
RK – the blurring is important for CV to work out intellectually and emotionally to experience the unknown, to explore what is possible. Huge discoveries are being made, even if they remain unresolved.
The issue of chairing has arisen today as the blurring is perhaps not serving the ‘lab’ process.
Perhaps if these roles are delegated as an experiment – just to see if it assists the group running and dynamic.
Is everybody censoring their ideas, because they are not sure of the outcome? Even if the devising is to be organic there is still to be a structure. How can you be clear with not knowing?
Observations from the task – how can we have been more rigorous with our questioning? Should we have re-entered the original task in order to refine it? Or should we have moved on? This could be the role of the chair person.
How do you get from the question to the task?? A big question from the first week is being explored here.
CV – feels this mornings discussion has highlighted her impatience with tasks/chairing because she has so many other roles. Perhaps roles can be decided in advance so that there is absolute clarity for the forthcoming work.
The chairing will also allow new people to understand the group structure/dynamic more quickly.
VF - The past two weeks have been essential to understand what the group needs.
CV/RK - The confusion has actually highlighted what we are trying to achieve in this project. How do you provide an entry point to introduce new company members into the group? (without the shadow of the previous work).
Should each new week begin a ’starting again’?
We need to define the rules to the structure of the game that we are playing – which is totally separate from the content of the work being explored. It is also about the language that we use and recognising what is helpful.
The creative process and the group process – these are the two main aspects of discussion.
The chairs role is to keep things moving and also to allow space for things to happen.
The chair is in charge of keeping the conceptual frame moving along:
Role includes:
Looking out for the energy in the group.
Keeping awareness of the conversation.
Timekeeping.
Ensuring that everybody is heard.
The chair person can remove the self-censoring by individuals.
Task from yesterday is discussed and what worked/didn’t work about it? Perhaps an overall chair would’ve helped for the task to function better. There is confusion over the ‘leader’ role.
Is the group dynamic hindering the exploration of ideas? Part of the lab is about being able to fail.
Is there a place where we can log ideas that we want to continue so that we can come back to it at later times?
Do we stay in this mode – or do we investigate further? Will the theatre space change how we work?
The roles of the day are then decided.
The chair (the points listed above), the documenter, the dramaturg (moving the conceptual frame onwards), the leader (the task giver/ suggester of ideas).

Chair – Darren, until the rest of the day.
Dramaturg – Ruth
Leader – Jem , continuing from yesterday.
Documenter – Ellie

Roles are delegated and useful decisions about the day are made.


After Lunch

Ellie’s task blogged on paper by PK.

Rachel’s Task

What if we all went to sleep and took it in turns to watch each other?

Yoga often ends with rest/sleep. Something a bit special about telling everyone to sleep and they do. Something about trust, weight, time, suspension. The situation at night – everyone is asleep. Exercise not about product but what can we gain from the experience of doing this.

Task is to go into the space in a certain order and everyone falls asleep. Here is list with an order of names. In order the people wake each other up after 4 minutes.
About physically, fully being in the space with people being asleep.

After the task:

Whilst asleep, sometimes sleeping, sometimes aware of the weather/surroundings. Altogether in a room writing/sleeping. Idea of presence and absence. We ere all present and absent in the room at the same time.

JO – wrote nothing. Felt very strange place to be in. Didn’t want to walk around – felt as though was being watched. Everyone was facing away or backwards. Sense of awareness of how people looked had changed. People had moved. J felt a lack of communication. J was interested in exploring the idea of stillness beforehand.

Leah – wrote on paper. Felt relaxed and sleepy.

CV – nothing to say at this point.

VF – security on having people around. Sleeping in the afternoon – different feel to at night. Noticed one presence in the room – Alex.
CV – I Sleep in a different way in a house with children in it.
VF - Responsibility of waking up a child..

AC – the wind reminds me that it’s the first time this week that I can hear myself think/ that we all agree.

DA – intrigued by who was before him. Being left alone, nice when people were moving at the same time. Awareness of the silence and the rain. Always feels like he is the last to go to sleep but not this time.

PK – didn’t sleep at all. Strange moments where she drifted and her attitude to the time passing changed. Felt uncomfortable with time. Knew she was last to get up – angry and impatient that she couldn’t sleep, because also she had the longest to wait. Was aware that she would be woken up and wanted to be awake for when she was woken up. Awareness of time frame to sleep meant that it was difficult to sleep. Thinking about who was asleep and who wasn’t. (RK – finding a state of physical rest/or unrest??). VF – interested/curious as to why Alex was awake and moving before the task had finished.

Ellie – never sleep in the day – really enjoyed the aspect of just being still and resting. Image of driftwood on a beach. Took some pictures. People all astrewn. Didn’t feel alone as Alex was there.

Ruth – aware of the rain. Aware of being a mother, aware of her children sleeping. When awake – infectious twitching moving. Reminded of being in hospital. Where people stir and settle, stir and settle. Like that we swapped positions as if by magic. Not alone in witnessing.

Nom – Time passed quickly. Wasn’t aware of people changing around. Watching people all in different positions. Seemed people had moved positions also. Waking J up was funny because he didn’t want to wake up. Wasn’t aware of rain etc proper sleeping!
No question to answer with this exercise but what questions it brings up. Being still really brings natural tendencies to the front. Spatial arrangement affected sleep/resting. Beauty in seeing people asleep. Reference to 39 Micro Lectures – book b