performers' brief
Below are some specific things to be thinking about and working on -
but please don't get too stressed about it if things don't flow, nor
overwork so you're too wedded to your initial ideas so that it's a
trauma if some get cut or changed etc. The Chameleons Group try to get a
balance between individual expression and creativity and 'ensemble'
playing. Therefore it's initially not so much about agreeing what the
show is 'about' or what themes or stories we're going to collectively
tell, but about each of us individually thinking about our own one
person show (in the Chameleons 'style') exploring ideas we individually
want to explore. We take things on from there - therefore you're not
actors waiting for instruction, but artists creating your own pictures
etc that we'll start to montage together and then move on and develop a
collective piece.
Artaud/ Surrealism/ Dreams
This is the general performative territory we start from, so I'd
strongly recommend re-reading 'The Theatre and Its Double' and anything
on surrealism. Think about some of your own dreams, maybe there are some
situations or images you'd like to recreate and adapt, and also have
another look at the 'Chameleons 2' CD-ROM for 'house style' etc.
'Characters'
We try to start with a sense of the 'character' or 'persona' we're
going to play, then develop and refine it as we go on. This should be
more a set of traits or characteristics (e.g. psychotic, ice woman,
B-movie hero(ine)) than a 'naturalistic' character - in fact generally
avoid thinking 'realism' altogether, think surrealism - the character
should define his/her own 'reality'. We generally go for unusual,
dualistic or extreme 'types', often radically extending particular
aspects of our own personality (hence it can be 'cruel' in an Artaudian
sense) and also characters that can exist in both comic and highly
serious/disturbing 'worlds'.
Set pieces
Once you've a sense of character, try to come up with initial ideas
for set pieces (live and video recorded) that can either be done solo,
or with the other performers (we can all also play characters to your
specification).
Durational activities
These will go on around the space at certain points in the show -
e.g. ritualised actions. I'd rather avoid too 'banal', 'real-life'
activities as it's typical of what I consider to be the most passe and
boring aspects of 'postmodern' performance. The activities need to be
theatrically engaging - but that said, you could do a banal activity in a
strange or surreal way - e.g. make a cake, but with your feet.