Your reports Find reports Making theatre happen in gig/club environments – any ideas? Making theatre happen in gig/club environments – any ideas? Convener(s): Alex Brown Participants:, Lucy Oliver Harrison, Simon Pollard,Tamar Daly, Eleanor Heidingsfield Plus others (please add your names) Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations: Two broad types indentified: Theatre that is set in a club or pub Theatrical events that happen during a club/gig What can theatre bring to a club atmosphere? -Narrative -Interaction -A way to shape or focus the collective experience of the audience What are the potential problems? -People can’t hear -People get bored -People are drunk -Theatre will ‘get in the way’ of people connecting to the music and each other -The ‘Massive Passive’ (also know as the Hanky Wankies) who don’t engage with the theatrical element of the evening Interesting things to consider when working in club environments: -What contract to do you want to establish with the audience (eg how to do you ask them to interact with the event?) -How do you engage with the space? -What can we learn from the way the DJ’s interact with and shape atmosphere? -The Song – shorter, driven towards the experience of closure. A good blueprint for theatrical ‘excerpts’ which can be presented -Collective Joy – the connection to ritual worship (see Barbara Ehrinwright’s (quite possibly spelt wrong!) book ‘Collective Joy – dancing in the streets’) -Durational work allows people to drop in and out -World Creation - How can we change peoples worlds when they enter and exit the space? Active or Passive? -Interaction and character walkabout ask for an active audience - Music/Visuals can be presented for people to ‘soak up’ in a passive way What work to make and how? -Curate an event that brings together artists from different disciplines -Encourage them to be flexible and adapt to the audience and space as they find it -What will the transitions between acts be like? -What ties the experience together for the audience? Work / Places that were mentioned and discussed Duckie – performance club night at RVT (Royal Vauxhall Tavern) Donkey Show – Midsummer Night’s Dream set in a club Punchdrunk’s Masque of the Red Death – immersive theatrical experience that filled the entire BAC building Nabokov Arts Club – new writing, bands and dj’s all in the same event Secret Cinema – screenings of films in secret locations with themed performance surrounding the film screening August Osage County – Musical at the National that had the audience up and dancing Fela! – Musical at the National that uses the format of live gig to tell the story of musician Fela Kuti David Byrne/ Robert Wilson collaboration (didn’t write the name down!) Theatre Royal Stratford East – big audience reactions and involvement in the material Late 80’s rave culture – phone the party line to find the location Santa Con – lots of Santa’s singing to the public Flash Mobs ARG – Alternate Reality Games Live games involving film, internet and real action. A treasure hunt that leads the audience into a game that is played across several performance platforms. The recent Batman movie launch had one, and there was also.. The Accomplice – Menier Chocoloate Factory show that had people searching all around the South Bank in a treasure hunt style game. There was also… Hide and Seek’s Sherlock Holmes event Torture Garden – The ‘tip of the ice berg’ of fetish parties. People recreate themselves and live a fantasy life. Of interest to anyone looking to work in club/gig enviroments La Fura de las Baus – Big, mad performance events on a large scale. Trance music soundtrack, big visual events , chainsaws! Fresh from the Oven – Brighton based performance events, improvised element to the work that morphs the fit the space and audience as the performers find it Temple Works – venue in Leeds that has had a lot of interesting events pass through 176 Chalk Farm – worth a look