"New student registration weekend" started yesterday at the University of Kent, Canterbury, where I'm beginning my Phd. The actual title of my status is Doctor of Philosophy in Drama: Practice as Reseach- External (part-time). Meaning, basically, that I don't have to live in the UK, I can take six years to finish, and my work will be research and hands-on. For my final, I'll present a dissertation and a presentation, perhaps even a performance or methods demonstration with an ensemble (or ensembles). So,that is exciting!
I was a bit apprehensive about this trip because every coordination was done via websites, email,and electronic means. I did have a live chat with my advisor via Skype in May, but that was the extent of the human contact. These people could all be serial killers!
The first stop of my trip was to meet up with the owners of the room I rented in London Saturday night. I found the room through Airbnb.com. It's a great site, especially for solo travelers. It provides a space for people who want to rent out spare rooms, in-law suites, or guest houses to short term renters.
This is Tom and Emanuela. They have an excellent flat just off of the Canada Water tube station. I stayed in their guest bedroom last night. You can't see too clearly out the window behind them, but, it is this:
The reason I chose to stay there, besides that is fairly close to public transportation, is that it is the neighborhood where my advisor lives. She
advised me to stay in that area last night so we could get together. So, I checked in with Tom and Emanuela at 2pm (that's 1400 over here) and met up with Duska, my advisor, at The Moby Dick pub at 3...which you can see from Tom and Emanuela's balcony.
My advisor is Duska Radosavljevic.
This Duska Radosavljevic:
We had an excellent conversation about the university, the Phd program, how I might go about the "external research," discussed the MET- the make-up of our ensemble and how artistic and administrative decisions are made; we talked about family...I gloated over mine, she has her first child due in December. Even though she is my advisor on the project, it was a peer to peer conversation...and we know a few common people.
Before my trip, I knew that if I was going to be in London one night, a Saturday night, I should certainly do my best to see a show. I had no intention of going to the West End, as I prefer to seek out smaller companies, and was really interested in an ensemble piece.
During the research phase of finding the right company, I ran across the website for The Lyric in Hammersmith. (http://www.lyric.co.uk) They are on an old theatre site, and have recently ditched the "one off" production model (where actors are just hired for a show, then the group disbands) and gone with a theatre ensemble model. In addition, the company is going through a major renovation. With the renovation, they came up with kind of a "kitch" idea that while they were renovating they would produce "Secret Theatre" where they don't tell the audience what show you are going to see...they promote the shows by just calling them Show #1 or Show #2, etc. Adverturous, to say the least. http://www.lyric.co.uk/downloads/productions/Secret_Theatre_Manifesto_16pp_Download.pdf
At the end of my conversation with Duska, she mentioned that she has seen Show #2 the night before and mentioned that she was very interested in my perspective on the play. It intrigued me the way she phrased that.
Off I went to the London neighborhood of Hammersmith!
After some lamb pie at a pub whose liquor permit predates my country, I got to the Lyric.
The box office is ground level, and "renovation" was a "feature."
That's decor above the box office, not actual construction.
And the company has something to say...in a not-so-subtle way....
Bravo for them!
(For scale, notice the guy on the cell phone in both pictures above)
Here we have another theatre with a small ground level store front where you have to wind and wend your way up stairs, through hallways, up more stairs, through more hallways...it felt like Spinal Tap looking for that stage. The theatre space was an ornate proscenium style space complete with balconies and boxes. It was originally built in 1895 and it is a 550 seat house- very intimate. But, due to the theme of the theatre company "renovation"...
...they draped plastic over the areas where they did not want the audience to sit and all over the balcony and boxes. This space is NOT a part of the renovation, just creating ambiance.
I took pictures of the ornate arch and ceiling (complete with plaster comedy/tragedy masks!), but it was very dark and the photos aren't worth posting.
The play took me by surprise. The set design was raw: white walls with a ladder, a couple folding chairs, and a drop leg table. The play started, and the texture of the play was beginning to remind me of a SITI Company piece- movement based, inventive staging and lighting. Then, as they began to speak, I started to recognize the dialogue. Mind you, it was British...in a British accent, but I kept hearing the name of Stella then Blanche came in...it was Streetcar! Now, I'm sorry Lyric, for blowing the secret of Show #2, but I really don't think my blog audience is coming to Hammersmith any time soon.
And YES, I said British accents.
See that lobby statement about confusion? That was me.
I always relay this tidbit to my students: "when you leave the theatre after a play, it is my hope that you continue to talk about the play and process what you have seen for a while. Deadly Theatre is when you walk out the door and the only thing you can say is, "where can we get pizza."
I'm still trying to process what I saw last night. I thought it had some really nice moments, some very talented performers with nice range, interesting staging, and so some great scenes; but I feel that if it is our job to "tell the story" then it missed the boat. It seemed like the director was so intent on infusing the play with "ensemble work" and concept, that the play lost its intensity and truth. That play needs heat, sultry passion, and a Southern sensibility.
But, it was still worth seeing.
I headed back to Canada Water to the flat...
And finally got some sleep.
Sunday is the trip to Canterbury!
*Prior to returning to academia, Duška has worked at the Royal Shakespeare Company where she engaged with the issues of kinaesthetic learning and teaching innovation at university level. Between 2002-2005, as the Dramaturg at the Northern Stage Ensemble and Newcastle University, she worked with a selection of local, national and international writers and theatre artists on devised and new writing projects and was instrumental in programming The Newcastle Gateshead Gypsy Festival and the Barcelona Connection. Since 1998, Duška has been a member of The Stage Awards for Acting Excellence panel of judges at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and has written over 700 theatre and dance reviews for the Stage Newspaper.
As a freelance dramaturg, Duška has worked for New Writing North, Dance City, Dramaturgs' Network and the National Student Drama Festival. Her long term research interest in theatre translation led to a collaboration with the West Yorkshire Playhouse on the production of Huddersfield by Uglješa Šajtinac – the first Serbian play ever to be produced in Britain. In the early stages of her career, Duška was also involved as a performer and director with a number of young theatre companies both in the north of England and in her native Yugoslavia. Duška is the author of Beginners' Serbo-Croatian and co-author of Serbian Phrasebook and Dictionary (Hippocrene Books, New York), and maintains a publication record in the areas of dramaturgy, pedagogy and aspects of theatre production and reception.
Her other roles have included Trustee at Circomedia Bristol, Reviews Editor for the Journal of Adaptation in Film and Performance, and she was recently elected as the Education Representative on the Dramaturgs' Network's Executive Committee.
http://www.kent.ac.uk/arts/staff-profiles/profiles/main/radosavljevic.html
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