When embarking upon an idea for a solo performance piece it is exciting, yet daunting at the same time. The following is just a short incite into the ideas I have whilst creating a piece.
The audience would walk into a studio, which would be filled with natural light pouring in through the windows. As more audiences members arrive, the curtains would slowly close and the room would be plunged into darkness. Children of the Grave, by Black Sabbath would begin to play and an actor would walk into the space nearest a corner. A thin spotlight appears, half lighting the actor and half the table beside him. On the table sits an old fashioned (turn to dial) phone, it is covered in dust and has apparently not been used, let alone touched for a while. The actor pulls out a single cigarette from his top pocket and a lighter from his trouser pocket. The actor then lights the lighter [preferably a Zippo] and puts it on the table, by the phone still lit and flickering. They then pull out a box of matches pull one out and light it, hold it close to the cigarette and proceed [in silence] to smoke the entire cigarette.
The performance would proceed with the actor, acting out a scene with a woeful tale, of which the audience are slowly let into the inside of the action. They realise that they were never the target and that the story is fully descriptive. The only aspect missing, is the ‘woman’ who has allegedly been killed by the character on stage.
This format is not entirely what I want to or would like to venture in to. However, I feel it is useful to become creative in this way, as it allows the creative process to be fully engaged with whilst allowing yourself to experience practises you wouldn’t normally encounter. It is also useful, as it gives you the opportunity to turn down ideas or strategies, for want of a better word, that you do not find attractive or appealing for your conceptual ideas of staging or performance.